Oscar Piastri has understood some of his struggles from last weekend\u2019s United States Grand Prix but says McLaren is up against it to retake third in the constructors championship.<\/p>\n
Piastri\u2019s upward trajectory hit a brick wall in Austin, where he finished seventh and more than 22s behind teammate Lando Norris despite starting ahead of the Englishman, whom he was ordered to let through in the opening stint.<\/p>\n
Team boss Andrea Stella later revealed team orders had been discussed before the race because it was clear Piastri was the slower of the two drivers at the Circuit of the Americas.<\/p>\n
Fox Sports, available on Kayo Sports, is the only place to watch every practice, qualifying session and race in the 2026 FIA Formula One World Championship\u2122 LIVE in 4K | Get Kayo now ><\/a><\/p>\n \u201cDefinitely for me the pace has been pretty bad,\u201d Piastri admitted after the race, offering no explanation for his struggles.<\/p>\n But ahead of this weekend\u2019s Mexico City Grand Prix, after three days of analysis, Piastri said he was clearer on what went wrong in Austin.<\/p>\n \u201cI think we\u2019ve got some answers for sure,\u201d he said. \u201cNot all of them, but I think we\u2019ve got a pretty good idea of certainly a direction of why things weren\u2019t quite as smooth as we would have hoped.<\/p>\n \u201cA lot of them are things I can keep working on for this weekend. Some will be similar to some of the struggles earlier in the season as well. There\u2019s plenty of races and laps still to go to keep working on that.\u201d<\/p>\n PIT TALK PODCAST: Damon Hill, the 1996 Formula 1 world champion, reflects on the significance of his career and on following in the footsteps of his father | Listen to PIT TALK here ><\/a><\/p>\n The Circuit of the Americas is one of Piastri\u2019s weakest venues, and it was one of the set of key weekends last season that saw him tumble from a commanding points lead to third in the championship, where he eventually finished the campaign.<\/p>\n But he has an even worse record in Mexico City<\/a>, where he\u2019s taken home just six points per race he\u2019s started that \u2014 an average finish of seventh.<\/p>\n It\u2019s a track that brings out some of his weaknesses. The thin atmosphere means the cars are much more prone to sliding, something his driving style doesn\u2019t match well with, and it features few meaningful high-speed corners of the sort he\u2019s typically excelled at.<\/p>\n It was here last year where Norris moved ahead of Piastri in pursuit of the world title.<\/p>\n Without a victory in 2026 and without a podium since Miami in May, this is an unlikely place for Piastri to score a big result \u2014 but the Australian said he isn\u2019t thinking about a big breakthrough.<\/p>\n \u201cA podium or a win [before the end of the season] would be nice for sure, but I think for me just trying to get on top of some of the struggles we\u2019ve had this year has obviously not been easy.<\/p>\n \u201cFor me, just trying to find more answers, keep working on those things, that\u2019s the biggest thing for the rest of the year going into next season.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously we\u2019re not fighting exactly where we want to be this year, but next year I\u2019m confident that we can be back fighting for both championships.<\/p>\n \u201cI want to learn as much as I can to be prepared for that.\u201d<\/p>\n Antonelli edges closer to F1 world title | 03:54<\/p>\n \u2018YOU JUST HAVE TO KEEP FIGHTING\u2019<\/p>\n Though McLaren has already been eliminated from the constructors championship, it set itself the target of beating Ferrari to second in the standings just two rounds ago.<\/p>\n Last weekend it slipped from third to fourth behind Red Bull Racing, which moved ahead with equal points on countback.<\/p>\n Ferrari is 119 points ahead with up to five rounds remaining.<\/p>\n McLaren has been hamstrung by a car that has become increasingly difficult to drive despite both drivers believing there is inherent pace to be unlocked.<\/p>\n Norris, whose championship defence has already been extinguished, said it was a struggle just to set consistent lap times in the MCL40.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re certainly not miles away, but we\u2019re a couple of steps, like we have been really the whole season bar maybe two races,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cI think the car has good potential, it\u2019s just too difficult to drive, it\u2019s as simple as that. <\/p>\n \u201cThe car\u2019s been horrible \u2014 difficult to drive \u2014 the whole season.<\/p>\n \u201cOther teams have brought a lot more upgrades since and improved a lot more than what we have.<\/p>\n \u201cNot only do we need to make it quicker, we also need to make it a lot more consistent through every type of circuit. That\u2019s by working on just making it an easier car to drive.\u201d<\/p>\n MORE FORMULA 1<\/p>\n MEXICO PREVIEW: Why 60 mins could sink two F1 careers… again<\/a><\/p>\n RICCIARDO COMEBACK? Ricciardo considers racing return as icon opens up over F1 \u2018humiliation\u2019 in revealing interview<\/a><\/p>\n