Oscar Piastri’s grip on lead in drivers’championship slips at Mexican Grand Prix as McLaren teammate Lando Norris qualifies in pole position
“Every lap I did this weekend was not good. It was never noticeable in the short term or the long term and it’s not going to suddenly change for the better tomorrow.”
Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli finished sixth. Piastri qualified eighth at the checkered flag but will move up one place as Williams’ Carlos Sainz, who is seventh in the standings, dropped five places from the previous round in Austin.
Piastri is looking for tempo
“There’s no pace, which is a bit of a mystery,” said Piastri, who needs to finish in the top four to stay ahead if Norris wins.
Oscar Piastri’s lead in the drivers’ championship is now under serious threat.Credit: Getty Images
“It’s been about the same gap all weekend, so we’ll take a look at where it went wrong. Obviously, it’s a little frustrating. I just felt like this weekend and last weekend, that pace wasn’t coming.”
Norris had shown his speed in recent practice by posting an impressive lap 0.345 faster than everyone else, becoming the third different driver to top the timesheets in three sessions.
The British driver finished fourth ahead of Hamilton and Russell in the first stage of qualifying, led by Racing Bulls’ Isack Hadjar, while Verstappen achieved the fastest lap and finished ninth, and Piastri finished 10th.
Norris was fastest in the second stage, Hamilton and Russell were second and third, while Verstappen and Piastri were fourth and seventh.
Piastri had flirted with a shock exit from the top 10 until his last effort secured his place in the final penalty shoot-out.
Leclerc then put his Ferrari on provisional pole position ahead of Norris and Hamilton, with Verstappen fourth and Piastri fifth ahead of the final flying laps.
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“It’s a long process to enter a corner… The race pace of the Ferraris is normally very strong,” Norris said. “I’m expecting a fight, I’m not expecting it to be easy. I’ll keep my eyes forward and see how much I can win.”
While Hadjar started the race in eighth place, Haas’ Oliver Bearman and Verstappen’s teammate Yuki Tsunoda will complete the top 10 after finishing ninth and 11th in qualifying.
Reuters
