{"id":226424,"date":"2025-10-20T02:07:11","date_gmt":"2025-10-20T02:07:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/226424\/"},"modified":"2025-10-20T02:07:11","modified_gmt":"2025-10-20T02:07:11","slug":"oscar-piastri-interview-after-disastrous-weekend-mclaren-drivers-championship-standings-lando-norris-max-verstappen","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/226424\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri interview after disastrous weekend, McLaren, driver\u2019s championship standings, Lando Norris, Max Verstappen"},"content":{"rendered":"

An \u201cextremely deflated\u201d Oscar Piastri said it was \u201cdifficult to get into a rhythm\u201d after what he described as a \u201clet-down\u201d weekend in Austin, capped off with a fifth-place finish in Monday\u2019s race<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Piastri had been lacking confidence all weekend and that continued into the race, with the Australian finishing behind title rivals Max Verstappen and teammate Lando Norris for a fourth consecutive grand prix.<\/p>\n

It was just the latest disappointment for Piastri in a weekend that left the championship leader with more questions than answers, with Mercedes driver George Russell even telling his team over the radio during Monday\u2019s race that the Australian looked \u201cslow\u201d.<\/p>\n

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<\/p>\n

RACE REPORT: Terrifying Piastri scenario gets more real as McLaren crumbles after icy exchange <\/a><\/p>\n

It comes after Piastri crashed out of the sprint race, while he was also consistently slower than teammate Lando Norris across the whole weekend – 0.279s slower in FP1, 0.309s slower in sprint qualifying and then 0.283s in grand prix qualifying.<\/p>\n

Speaking on team radio after the race, Piastri admitted it was a \u201ctricky afternoon\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cJust struggled a lot with the balance. That wasn\u2019t the easiest weekend but plenty more to go so let\u2019s keep pushing,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Sky Sports F1 host Simon Lazenby said Piastri looked like he was \u201cextremely deflated\u201d after another underwhelming weekend, with his lead over teammate Norris reduced to just 14 points while Verstappen continues to gain ground. <\/p>\n

Piastri told Sky Sports after the race that the biggest focus for him moving forward would be trying to work out why he wasn\u2019t gelling with the car this weekend.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was just difficult to get into a rhythm at all and that\u2019s been the big difference compared to other circuits we\u2019ve been to, even more recently,\u201d the Australian said.<\/p>\n

Max closes in on Oscar after another win | 02:32<\/p>\n

As for whether he believes at some point McLaren will need to make a call on whether to prioritise one driver or another in the title race, Piastri was diplomatic as always.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know. I don\u2019t think so,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re still so incredibly tight and we\u2019ve both said we wanted an opportunity to try and fight for the championship because we deserve it so I think it\u2019s far too close to start picking one over the other.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri is right, with Norris still having five races to cut down the 14-point deficit.<\/p>\n

It means that the pressure is only building on the Australian, especially given the strong position he found himself in earlier in the year before his recent struggles.<\/p>\n

But in a seperate interview, Piastri maintained that he\u2019s still the favourite in the title race.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019d still rather be where I am than the other two,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s (Verstappen) obviously there and he\u2019s quick, but for me the biggest focus is just trying to work out why this weekend was tough and try and get back on the form we\u2019ve had earlier in the season.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pushed further on if Verstappen has a psychological advantage for the closing stages, Piastri said: \u201cNot necessarily. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s obviously 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\u2019t have any major concerns.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s still a long way to go in the championship, it is still for Max anyway. He\u2019s obviously chased it down pretty quick, but it\u2019s not exactly a small gap with five rounds to go. <\/p>\n

\u201cSo I think if we can find our pace again, then things will take care of itself.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking on Sky Sports, former F1 world champion Jenson Button backed the \u201cintelligent\u201d Australian to find the answers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe car is obviously not working for him either,\u201d Button said.<\/p>\n

\u201cHe hasn\u2019t forgotten how to drive but he\u2019ll be driving around going, \u2018Why can\u2019t I drive my car like my teammate can and like I could before\u2019. <\/p>\n

\u201cPressure builds when things start going wrong and then you might go in the slightly wrong direction on set-up. It\u2019s difficult to find your way out of it, and it\u2019s having the right people around you in that scenario. <\/p>\n

\u201cHe\u2019s got his head screwed on. He\u2019s very intelligent. But it\u2019s so much pressure. This is pressure that no other racer ever feels until you fight for a world championship.\u201d<\/p>\n

AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 19: Fifth placed Oscar Piastri of Australia and McLaren during interviews.Source: AFP<\/p>\n

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella did little to help alleviate the pressure building on Piastri after the race.<\/p>\n

While Stella stressed the need for a proper review into the race, he admitted that something appeared to be amiss on Piastri\u2019s side of the garage. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe struggled to fully realise the potential of the car this weekend after a disappointing Saturday, so while we were able to secure a podium and some good points, it felt like we under-delivered compared to our potential,\u201d he said. <\/p>\n

\u201cLooking at Oscar\u2019s race, the pace wasn\u2019t there today, and he wasn\u2019t able to make the progress we had hoped for after a strong start. This is something that we will now review as a team and make sure we come back stronger next week.<\/p>\n

\u201cOverall, it wasn\u2019t the weekend we wanted. We always aim to come away with a 1-2, and this isn\u2019t something we achieved. <\/p>\n

\u201cWe must now refocus, improve from our learnings and build on the positives before aiming to have a better weekend in Mexico.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An \u201cextremely deflated\u201d Oscar Piastri said it was \u201cdifficult to get into a rhythm\u201d after what he described…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":226425,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[64,63,817,813,816,85],"class_list":["post-226424","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226424","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=226424"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/226424\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/226425"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=226424"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=226424"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=226424"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}