Romain Grosjean puzzled by Oscar Piastri's late-season slump: "Felt like it was his cousin driving"

Former Formula 1 driver Romain Grosjean was left puzzled by Oscar Piastri's performance at the end of the 2025 season, claiming it "felt like it was his cousin driving".

The McLaren driver had a strong start to the year, securing 12 grand prix podium finishes ahead of the summer break, six of which were victories. But after the summer break, he won the Dutch Grand Prix and finished third in Italy before going six grands prix without a podium.

After the double McLaren disqualification in Las Vegas, Piastri bounced back to finish second at both the Qatar and Abu Dhabi Grands Prix.

"Oscar Piastri is the one I just don’t understand this year. He was so strong before the summer break, and then after Monza, for four or five races… it felt like it was his cousin driving," Grosjean explained to beIN Sports.

"And then Qatar came along, and we saw Oscar again: the fastest man on track, pole position. He didn’t win the race, but it didn’t really matter that weekend. Oscar was back, and I thought he looked solid in Abu Dhabi. But by then, he had already lost too much ground [in the drivers' championship].

"I don’t know Oscar very well. I really like him as a person and as a driver. In my opinion, he’s very disappointed with his season. When you have a 34-point lead at the summer break and you finish with a 13-point deficit, it’s not what you were hoping for. 

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Mark Thompson / Getty Images

"But he’s going to learn. He’s still very young and has few seasons in F1. He’s shown huge potential and a lot of very good things. And he’s also shown that at some points, for four or five races, he wasn’t at the level he wanted to be at. If he repeats what he does best and fixes those issues, he’ll be a world champion."

Piastri finished the season in third behind his team-mate and championship-winner Lando Norris and Red Bull's Max Verstappen.