Sebastian Vettel: Piastri needs support to drive “freely again”
Four-time World Champion Sebastian Vettel believes Oscar Piastri just needs some good old-fashioned support right now to get his mojo back on track.
“What we all need in a situation like this is someone who is there for us and stands by us,” Vettel said.
It’s been a rough couple of months for the young Australian driver. Back when Piastri won the Dutch Grand Prix, things looked incredibly promising – he was sitting pretty with a 34-point lead over teammate Lando Norris and a massive 104-point advantage over Max Verstappen.
How quickly things can change in Formula 1.
Verstappen has stormed back in spectacular fashion, slashing that gap to just 25 points. Meanwhile, Norris has not only overtaken his teammate but built a 24-point cushion.
The downward spiral has been painful to watch. Piastri crashed out of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on the opening lap and suffered crashes in both the Austin and Brazilian Sprint events.
Vettel, speaking to Sky Deutschland in Brazil, thinks what Piastri needs most isn’t criticism but understanding.
“First of all, he needs some peace and quiet,” the German explained. “I don’t think he needs anyone to explain to him what went wrong; he knows that himself.”
“What we all need in a situation like this is someone who is there for us and stands by us. He has the people in his team.”
“He needs them now, so that he can move on quickly and get back to driving freely again if possible.”
## Piastri feeling out of sync
Piastri himself has admitted things just haven’t felt right lately.
After qualifying fourth in Brazil, he told the media, “Just feels like things are not flowing that easily at the moment.”
“I had pretty good confidence in the car yesterday [Friday]. Today felt like it was a bit trickier for everybody, and I just struggled to get the most out of the car.”
The numbers tell the story. Piastri qualified 0.375 seconds behind Norris in Brazil and hasn’t outqualified his teammate since the Singapore Grand Prix.
His last pole position? The Dutch Grand Prix back in August – the same weekend that now feels like a lifetime ago.
Can Piastri turn things around with the support Vettel suggests? The final races of the season will tell if the young driver can rediscover that early-season form that had everyone talking.
