Piastri Surprised by Verstappen’s Rise in the Championship Fight
Oscar Piastri has expressed his surprise at the speed with which Max Verstappen has positioned himself in the fight for the world championship. After Piastri’s victory in Zandvoort at the end of August, the Australian driver led his teammate, Lando Norris, by 34 points and Verstappen by 104. However, Piastri has not managed to outperform Norris or Verstappen in the four subsequent races, and his lead has been reduced to only 14 points over Norris and 40 over the Dutchman, which has generated a real three-way battle. Red Bull is expected to show a great performance on a circuit where Verstappen has triumphed five times. A successful weekend for the four-time world champion would continue his rapid rise in the fight for the title.
Piastri commented that Verstappen’s streak since Monza has been a bit surprising. Although there were flashes of that performance at the beginning of the season, there were also significant dips. “He has gotten to the fight faster than I expected,” he added. Piastri had a difficult weekend in Austin, suffering an accident in the sprint race and also colliding with Norris before finishing in fifth position in Sunday’s race.I think so, but we all thought so.
Oscar Piastri
There are five races left to finish the championship, with 141 points still up for grabs before this weekend’s competition in Mexico City. Piastri struggled here last year, suffering a surprising elimination in Q1 before fighting to finish eighth in the race. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez presents a unique challenge for cars and drivers, as it is located more than 2 km above sea level, and the low air density at altitude makes it difficult to generate aerodynamic downforce.The gap has closed a little in the last races, but the focus has always been to go as fast as possible. I prefer to have the lead than to be anywhere else. It doesn’t benefit me to worry or focus on that.
Oscar Piastri
