Summary
Oscar Piastri showed a marked decline since Baku. Where he had previously performed strongly, his speed stalled in Austin and Mexico. His teammate Lando Norris picked up ground during that period and leads the championship.
What happened
In Baku, Piastri crashed hard into the wall. He then collided with Norris during the sprint in Austin. In Mexico, he got no further than spot five while Norris dominated. Piastri called his sudden lack of speed a conundrum.
Conspiracy theories and the team response
Some pointed at the team and claimed McLaren would favour Norris. Piastri slammed those accusations. He said he respects team principles. McLaren leaves both drivers free to fight for the championship.
Zak Brown, the team's CEO, previously indicated that he would rather lose the championship than favour one driver. Piastri says the team is encouraging him to stand up for himself and that nothing fundamental needs to be changed.
The real cause: tyres and driving style
Piastri did deep self-examination. He attributes many of his problems to the Pirelli tyre selection for recent races. The compound helped move towards two softer compounds and one harder tyre. That combination called for different driving behaviour.
Austin and Mexico had different requirements from previous hot, slippery races, according to Piastri and the team. There, you had to continuously drive differently. That was new and required bigger adjustments than he had needed to make earlier this season.
- Tyre composition: more soft tyres in the set-up.
- Weather and track surface: higher temperatures and less grip.
- Driving style: more adaptive, continuous and consistent.
Experience and technical factors
Piastri is only in his third season in Formula 1. He acknowledges that lack of experience can play a role. Sometimes he underestimates how much adaptation certain circuits require.
There also remains an open question about different front-wheel suspensions. Norris has been driving with a different front wheel configuration for some time. That change helped him improve steering feel earlier in the season. Piastri does not rule out the possibility of that having an impact, but has not yet found conclusive evidence of it.
Mentality: pursuer versus pursued
Piastri says the mental change from leader to chaser does not have a big effect. The points difference is small. He wants to keep taking the same risks as before. His focus is on adjusting and finding the right tools in the car.
The rise of Norris
Norris is visibly improving. He is working more on his preparation and his mental approach. After problems earlier this season, he took steps to be more emotionally stable. He says himself that the progress is mainly due to hard work and a good team around him.
Norris also admits that he sometimes takes a little more risk because he now has less to lose. But he stresses that the results come mainly from work and improvement, not just a different mindset.
What Piastri is doing now
Piastri looks for answers and adjusts his driving style where necessary. He does not want to adjust too much and thereby lose something that worked well before. He now has directions, but admits not all the pieces of the puzzle are in place.
His plan is clear: understand what the car and tyres demand, practise with those adjustments and try to get back to his old level as soon as possible.
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