Piastri calls for pace analysis amidst McLaren conspiracy theories

Oscar Piastri says he and McLaren need to “analyse” the changes made to his driving style in Mexico after he lost the lead in the championship to his teammate Lando Norris.

Piastri’s recent struggles, with the Australian unable to keep pace with Norris in Austin and again in Mexico City, have led to conspiracies that McLaren is favouring the Briton, with fans on social media going as far as to call it sabotage.

What’s gone wrong for Oscar Piastri?

⦁ Australian racer ready to ‘analyse’ after ‘difficult’ Mexico City weekend
⦁ Piastri defiant after losing the lead in the Drivers’ standings
⦁ All to play for in final four race weekends with 116 points up for grabs

It led to Norris being booed on the podium after winning the Mexico City Grand Prix, where the lead in the championship changed hands between the McLaren teammates as Norris took 15 points more than Piastri to move ahead by one.

While Norris led from lights to flag in Mexico, Piastri had a more difficult afternoon, as starting P8 and losing three places on the opening lap, he spent much of the grand prix in dirty air. He finished in fifth place, but a whopping 40 seconds down on Norris.

Rather than cry foul, Piastri wants to “analyse” after McLaren put his struggles in Mexico, and also in Austin, down to his driving style in hot conditions when cars are sliding.

But given he was in traffic for much of the race, even at the very end when a VSC prevented him from chasing down Oliver Bearman for fourth, he cannot say whether the changes he made to his driving style on Sunday actually worked.

“It’s difficult to say ultimately,” Piastri told PlanetF1.com and other media outlets after the grand prix.

“I think we certainly tried a lot of different things, but at the back with cars as well, so it was difficult to kind of get a read on whether what I was changing with my driving was working that well or not.

“But ultimately, yeah, we’ll have to analyse it and see if it looks good and in terms of the numbers and stuff, because, from a feeling point of view, when you’re behind that many cars, it’s very difficult to tell.

“It wasn’t so much the pace of the car, because the car was pretty quick this weekend. It was more just trying to unlock it, and I felt like I potentially made some steps in doing that.

“But yeah, ultimately, when you’re behind so many cars and trying to fight for so long, it’s difficult to measure that a little bit. So hopefully we’ll get a bit more indication from some of the data.”

Piastri put it down to a learning experience, saying: “For some reason the last couple of weekends has required a very different way of driving.

“What’s worked well for me in the last 19 races has needed something very different the last couple of weekends, and trying to wrap my head around why has been a bit of a struggle.

“But ultimately, today was about trying to experiment with some of those things because, I would agree, I think driving the way I’ve had to drive these last couple of weekends is not particularly natural for me.

“So it’s been about trying to exploit as much as I can.”

More on Oscar Piastri’s troubled times

👉 What happened to Oscar Piastri? Mexico GP data provides clear answer

👉 McLaren issues final four-race prediction in wake of conspiracy theories

Oscar Piastri defiant: Find pace and win races

The 24-year-old believes he will have a lot more to exploit in the final four races of the championship.

Brazil and Qatar will both hold Sprints, meaning there’s also the opportunity for an extra eight points.

Asked how he was feeling ahead of the run-in to Abu Dhabi, Piastri admitted: “Difficult to know what to expect. I think clearly the pace in the car has been strong this weekend, just have not really been able to unlock it that much.

“I think we’ll clearly learn, if there was some things to learn, if we changed some things today and made progress with that, and yeah, I think if I have then that’ll leave me relatively happy.

“If there’s still some things to learn, then back to the drawing board.”

Pressed on how he can regain the lead in the standings, he simply replied: “Find some more pace and win some more races.”

A one-point swing but a 116 still to play for

With a solitary point separating the McLaren teammates, and 116 still up for grabs in the final four race weekends, it’s all to play for in this year’s title race.

And McLaren appears ready to play.

Having won the Constructors’ Championship, Norris predicted that the gloves would be a little looser in the run to the title, and while they briefly tightened on his wrists after he clobbered into Piastri in Singapore, any repercussions were erased when Piastri returned the favour – although in different circumstances – in the Sprint in Austin.

McLaren called it a “clean slate”.

It’s now about pace, and to an extent, elbows. Ideally McLaren would like to avoid the latter as a collision between the two would open the door for Max Verstappen, it’s now all about Norris v Piastri, Piastri v Norris.

May the quickest driver win.

Additional reporting by Elizabeth Blackstock

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