Juan Pablo Montoya reckons Oscar Piastri has all the talent in the world to become a world champion, but he's worried the McLaren driver might never get another genuine title opportunity after blowing it last year. Piastri was sitting pretty with a 34-point lead heading into the final nine races of 2025, but somehow managed to lose the plot and finished third, thirteen points behind teammate Lando Norris. For a guy who's already racked up nine Grand Prix wins and 28 podiums at just 25 years old, it's a devastating way to lose what should've been his crowning moment.

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The problem, according to Montoya, is that championship windows don't stay open forever. He pointed to Fernando Alonso as the cautionary tale here, the bloke who won back-to-back titles with Renault in 2004 and 2005 but has chased a third championship ever since without success. Alonso's been runner-up three times during that drought, yet hasn't managed to crack the top five in the standings since 2013. Sometimes the stars just don't align twice for a driver, no matter how brilliant they are.

Last season wasn't entirely Piastri's fault either. McLaren made some dodgy strategy calls at Monza and Singapore that worked against him, but that's only part of the story. When it mattered most, he lost form badly. He binned it in Azerbaijan qualifying and the race itself, calling it the worst weekend of his career, then scored only two podiums across the final eight races. Meanwhile, Norris was bagging crucial wins in the USA and Mexico while Piastri could only manage fifth place finishes.

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Here's what makes this even tougher, Montoya says. Drivers like Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton got lucky enough to find themselves in the right machinery at the right time, allowing them to string together historic title runs. Not everyone gets that second or third chance. If Piastri wants to win a championship again, he'll need both the car and the form to align perfectly, and there's no guarantee that moment comes around twice.

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Right now, it's looking grim. McLaren are struggling in 2026 and Piastri's stuck seventh in the standings with barely two podiums all season. If he's going to win another title under these regulations, he's got to completely rethink his approach and find consistency he hasn't shown yet.

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