Oscar Piastri responds Jos Verstappen's subtle hint at McLaren sabotage after losing the championship lead

Oscar Piastri has responded to Jos Verstappen's remark about McLaren, saying that the environment within the team has been very open to both drivers. The Australian was the runaway favorite after the F1 Dutch GP that saw teammate and rival Lando Norris suffer a DNF.

After the race, Oscar Piastri was more than a race win ahead of his direct title rival and more than a hundred points ahead of Max Verstappen. Since that race, the title battle has been turned on its head. We've had five races since Zandvoort, and the Australian doesn't lead the championship anymore.

Not only that, we have Max Verstappen, only 36 points behind the championship leader. During all of this, Oscar Piastri is yet to finish ahead of Lando Norris even once since Zandvoort. His form in Austin and Mexico was alarming as well, with Jos Verstappen also taking note of the sudden drop in form.

In an interview with De Telegraaf, the former F1 driver hinted at potential sabotage, suggesting Oscar Piastri and his manager question McLaren for the last few races.The Australian has responded to these comments, doubling down on how open the environment is at McLaren. He told Motorsport:

"I think for me, we're always very open with each other in terms of what we think, whether we think things have been fair, whether we think the right decisions have been made. And from that side of things we can stand up for ourselves and I feel very comfortable doing that. And that's very much encouraged by the team to kind of make our point for ourselves individually."

He added:

"But I think it's obviously a difficult dynamic to manage when you've got the two cars in the same team fighting for a championship that only one car can win."

What Jos Verstappen had to say about Oscar Piastri's drop in form

Talking to Dutch publication De Telegraaf, Jos Verstappen termed Oscar Piastri's drop in form 'strange.' Adding further fuel to the fire of 'favoritism' inside McLaren, Verstappen said that by now he would be questioning the team internally about what has been going on for the last few races. He said,

"I find it quite strange what's happening at McLaren. Piastri can't have suddenly forgotten how to drive, right? If I were him, or his manager [Mark Webber], I'd bang my fist on the table internally at least once."

He added,

"Because right now everyone is wondering whether he can handle the pressure – and that's not good for your reputation. Piastri's reputation in this case."

As we head to the F1 Brazilian GP, Oscar Piastri is currently just one point behind championship leader, Lando Norris. The gaps between the two drivers have continued to ebb and flow this year, with the British driver now seemingly taking the initiative in the championship.