Topics: Oscar Piastri, Lando Norris, Formula 1, Max Verstappen, McLaren, Red Bull Racing
Oscar Piastri could be faced with a major problem at the Mexican Grand Prix, which could hand a huge boost to Lando Norris and Max Verstappen in the race for the world title.
Last time out, championship leader Piastri endured a tough weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas.
The Australian saw his lead at the top of the standings cut to just 14 points after retiring from the sprint before finishing fifth in the Grand Prix.
To add to Piastri's woes, high-flying Verstappen is now only 40 points behind in third place, having won three out of the last four races.
Advert
Looking ahead, one of Piastri or Norris is still the heavy favourite to win the title, but Verstappen is hot on their heels.
During the US Grand Prix, Piastri struggled with ride height and low grip, something that could happen again in Mexico, which could give Norris a huge boost.
As per F1 Oversteer, journalist Julianne Cerasoli stated that the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez is also a ‘very low grip’ track.
She said: "The team is saying that he has difficulty when the track has poor grip, and that’s what McLaren, they don’t say he doesn’t perform well, they say he has opportunities to improve when there are low grip conditions.
"The problem for Piastri is that the next race, the Mexican Grand Prix, is on a track with very low grip, precisely because of the altitude there."
Cerasoli continued: "The difference between Norris and Piastri is now 14 points, a difference that four races ago was more than 40 points. So Piastri has to keep an eye on Verstappen and also on his own teammate, Lando Norris."
When asked whether he could pull off a sensational comeback and win the title, Verstappen said: "For sure, the chance is there. We just need to try and deliver these kind of weekends now ’til the end. We’ll just try whatever we can. I think it is exciting and I’m just very excited to the end. It was an unbelievable weekend for us."
