Oscar Piastri/McLaren: Nico Rosberg & Jacques Villeneuve deliver a harsh verdict

Oscar Piastri got off to a rocky start in the 2026 World Championship: his McLaren refused to cooperate in either Australia or China; it was only in Japan, at the third round of the World Championship, that Piastri was finally able to drive – and finished a fine second. The 25-year-old then followed that up with a P3 in Miami. But since then, things have gone downhill.

Eleventh in Canada, a lacklustre fifth in Monaco and Spain, overshadowed by his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris. What on earth is going on here?

The two Formula 1 champions, Nico Rosberg and Jacques Villeneuve, have also been pondering the matter. The 40-year-old from Wiesbaden and the 55-year-old Canadian watched the Barcelona Grand Prix as F1 experts for our colleagues at Sky, discussing the season of nine-time Grand Prix winner Piastri.

Nico Rosberg, the 2026 Formula 1 World Champion, says: “Things haven’t been going too well for him lately. His market value has plummeted in recent weeks. That came as a bit of a surprise to me, because last year he was really always on a par with Lando, and now Lando is a step ahead of him.”

“Oscar clearly doesn’t feel entirely comfortable with these new rules and the new cars. I find that a bit strange, and he really needs to work on it now, because he’s falling behind.”

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Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula 1 champion, adds: “We saw this trend last year. In the middle of the season, he was THE talking point in the pit lane. And then he slumped, his form went down the drain, and he hasn’t recovered. That’s really strange.”

“As things stand – nobody’s talking about him anymore. And in what timeframe? Six months? Even less than that. It’s very odd. But as we often say: you’re only as good as your last race. That’s the tough thing about this sport.”

“Unless you’re Lewis Hamilton and you’ve won so many world championships and so on. Then you’ve got something to fall back on. But otherwise, it’s like this: two or three bad races, and Formula 1 stops talking about you.”