Oscar Piastri has stated that both he and team mate Lando Norris will arrive into the Mexico City Grand Prix weekend on a \u201cclean slate\u201d, with the repercussions previously given to Norris for contact in Singapore now removed while Piastri has taken a \u201cdegree of responsibility\u201d for their first-lap collision in the Austin Sprint.<\/p>\n
It was a tough outing for McLaren<\/a> last time out at the Circuit of The Americas, having recorded a double DNF in Saturday\u2019s Sprint following a Turn 1 melee on Lap 1 of Saturday\u2019s Sprint<\/a> that eliminated both Norris<\/a> and Piastri<\/a>.<\/p>\n Sunday went on to be another tricky day for Piastri, the Australian crossing the line in P5, while Norris ended the race in P2 behind winner Max Verstappen<\/a>. This has reduced Piastri\u2019s lead in the Drivers\u2019 Championship<\/a> to just 14 points from Norris and 40 from Verstappen in third.<\/p>\n When asked if the team had reviewed what happened on Saturday at the United States Grand Prix, Piastri explained: \u201cWe\u2019ve gone through it again \u2013 we go through every weekend, regardless of what\u2019s happened.<\/p>\n \u201cI think there is a degree of responsibility from my side in the Sprint, and we\u2019re starting this weekend with a clean slate for both of us, so just going out and racing and see who can come out on top.\u201d<\/p>\n Pushed on whether this meant that the repercussions previously given to Norris<\/a> after the Singapore incident had now been removed \u2013 as well as being asked if taking some of the responsibility himself for the Austin Sprint moment was owing to the aggressiveness of the move \u2013 Piastri continued: \u201cYes, the consequences on Lando\u2019s side have been removed, and yes, ultimately it was that.<\/p>\n \u201cThere were a lot of factors involved, but ultimately that\u2019s what\u2019s been decided.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren have been open about their use of \u2018papaya rules\u2019 and, when quizzed on whether the rules of engagement for himself and Norris were adding any extra pressure to the title fight, Piastri denied that this was the case.<\/p>\n \u201cNot necessarily, no,\u201d he answered. \u201cFor us it\u2019s pretty clear what those rules are, which is don\u2019t crash into each other, but I think regardless of what scenario you\u2019re in that\u2019s how you\u2019re expected to race as team mates, so I don\u2019t think that adds any pressure into the scenario.\u201d<\/p>\n As for Verstappen\u2019s role in the championship battle \u2013 with the Dutchman declaring after his victory in Austin that \u201cthe chance is there\u201d<\/a> for him to claim a fifth consecutive title \u2013 Piastri insisted that he is not giving much thought to any concerns about how quickly the Red Bull<\/a> driver has gotten himself back into the fight.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s not really something I think about,\u201d the 24-year-old said. \u201cHe has been very consistent in the last few weekends and been strong as well \u2013 there\u2019s no denying that. But there\u2019s no benefit for me in worrying about that or focusing on that.<\/p>\n \u201cThe thing that\u2019s going to help me to win this championship is trying to get the most out of myself, the most out of the car, the most out of the team around me, and worrying about anyone else on the grid is not focusing on that. He\u2019s there, he\u2019s in the fight, but ultimately that doesn\u2019t change how I\u2019m going to approach my racing.\u201d<\/p>\n