Oscar Piastri made a surprise comment following the United States Grand Prix that will give further encouragement to Max Verstappen in the title race.
Verstappen dominated the weekend in Texas, winning both the sprint race and the main race to cut the gap to the McLarens of Lando Norris and Piastri.
Earlier in the season, it appeared to be a straight fight for the championship between the two McLaren teammates.
But Verstappen has rediscovered his form, winning three of the last four races to put himself firmly back in contention.
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Piastri still leads the standings with a 14 point advantage over Norris, while Verstappen is now just 40 points behind the Australian.
With five races remaining, the Dutchman has publicly stated that he believes a record-equalling fifth consecutive F1 drivers' championship is still possible.
For Piastri, however, it was another disappointing weekend.
He crashed out of the sprint race, before finishing fifth in the Grand Prix, nearly 30 seconds behind Verstappen.
The 24-year-old has now gone three races without a podium, with his last one coming at the Italian Grand Prix at the start of September.
After the race, the McLaren driver was asked how he plans to turn around his dip in form.
Piastri said: "I don't have any great ideas at the moment.
"Qualifying was clean from my side; it was just that the pace wasn't there, and it was honestly a pretty similar story in the race.
"This layout is quite interesting; there are a lot of very high-speed corners with a lot of ride content, there are a lot of very low-speed corners, so you need to be good at both ends of the spectrum.
"Actually, there's not a whole lot [of corners] in that medium-speed range; there are a few, but more outside of it, so for me, it's not been a particularly happy hunting ground my whole F1 career.
"So in some ways, I can't say I'm shocked that this has been a tough weekend, but obviously I was hoping for better."
McLaren have not won a Drivers' Championship since Lewis Hamilton's dramatic triumph in Brazil back in 2008.
After securing a second successive Constructors' title, they looked to set to add the drivers' crown as well.
But with Verstappen rapidly closing the gap, those hopes now look more uncertain.
Piastri added: "Max has had a good run in the last few races, but ultimately, if we can find our way again, find our pace, and certainly for me, find the pace again, then I don't have any major concerns.
"There is still a long way to go in the championship.
"And for Max, he's chased it down pretty quickly, but it is not exactly a small gap with four, five rounds to go.
"So if we can find our pace again, things will take care of themselves."
Topics: Formula 1, Max Verstappen, McLaren, Motorsport, Oscar Piastri
James Taylor