Verstappen Surprises Piastri: Meteoric Rise in the F1 Championship Fight

Piastri Surprised by Verstappen’s Rise in Championship Battle

Oscar Piastri has expressed his surprise at the speed with which Max Verstappen has climbed 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 beat 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 be strong again on a circuit where Verstappen has won five times. Another successful weekend for the four-time world champion would continue his rapid rise in the fight for the title.

Verstappen, who declared that his pursuit of a fifth consecutive championship had ended before the summer break, has outperformed the McLaren duo in each of the last four races.

I think so, but everyone believed it.

Oscar Piastri

When asked if he thought his fight for the title, after Zandvoort, was only with Norris, Piastri replied: “I think so, but everyone thought so. The run of form he (Verstappen) has had since Monza has been a bit surprising. There were flashes of that performance at the beginning of the season, but also quite big dips. He has gotten to the fight faster than I expected.” Piastri had a difficult weekend in Austin, suffering an accident in the sprint race and also eliminating Norris before finishing fifth in Sunday’s race. But the 24-year-old driver says he is not thinking about the imminent threat of his rivals.

The gap has closed a bit 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 about that or focus on that.

Oscar Piastri

There are five rounds left in the championship, with 141 points still up for grabs before this weekend’s battle in Mexico City. Piastri struggled here last year, suffering a surprising elimination in Q1 before fighting to eighth place in the race. The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez presents a unique challenge for cars and drivers, at more than 2 km above sea level, with the low air density at altitude, which makes it difficult to generate aerodynamic downforce.