Oscar Piastri suffered in both Mexico City and Austin due to a lack of grip on the slippery tracks. McLaren worked with him to find the right setup and driving adjustments that partially paid off on Sunday, though heavy traffic and a late Virtual Safety Car limited his progress.
Just when it seemed that all the planets had aligned and that Oscar Piastri had the first Formula 1 world title of his career within reach, things took a dramatic turn. With only four races remaining in the season, the Australian driver lost the championship lead after a series of below-par performances.
Since the Dutch Grand Prix in Zandvoort, Oscar Piastri has struggled to reproduce the dominant form that defined the early part of his campaign. After his victory in the Netherlands, he has not won again. He scored only one more podium – a third place in Monza – followed by a retirement in Baku, fourth place in Singapore, and two fifth places in Austin and Mexico City. It’s not a disastrous record, but it’s certainly not enough when fighting for the title, especially with a car as competitive as the McLaren MCL39. In this situation, both Oscar Piastri and his teammate Lando Norris are expected to deliver winning performances.
Grip and handling issues on slippery tracks
Oscar Piastri’s biggest difficulties came during the last two races on American soil. On tracks that offered little grip, he struggled with the rear of the MCL39 stepping out under acceleration, especially on corner exits. This, combined with his naturally precise and smooth driving style, created major challenges for the young Australian.
After the Mexican Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri admitted that his issues weren’t caused by the car itself, but by his own difficulty in adapting to the low-grip conditions, similar to what had happened the week before in Austin. “After qualifying in Mexico, we looked closely at all the data together with Oscar, including videos, viewpoints and his comments,” explained McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
“We extracted some valuable information about how the car needs to be driven under those special low-grip conditions that we faced in Mexico and similarly in Austin,” Stella continued. “It seems that you need to adapt your driving style to the fact that the car slides a lot. You have to use that sliding to your advantage to gain lap time. That’s not necessarily Oscar’s natural way of driving. It doesn’t come instinctively to him to find time that way. So, we’ve identified a few things that we can change on the car, and a few things that he can work on with his driving style.”
A missed opportunity for a stronger finish
According to Andrea Stella, Oscar Piastri could have finished higher than fifth in Mexico. His race was compromised by a messy first lap that dropped him down to tenth place. Later, a late-race Safety Car – introduced with just two laps remaining – denied him the chance to challenge Oliver Bearman for fourth place.
“We saw that during the race, Oscar managed to apply the things we had studied and asked him to do,” Stella said. “He was much more competitive than he had been in the previous days. It was a pity he couldn’t fully use his pace because of the traffic. He spent almost the entire race behind another car. But the important thing is that he learned from this experience and added another layer to his skill set, becoming a more complete Formula 1 driver.”
“This will also be very important in the final four races of the season, where we’ll likely face very different conditions again. We must be ready for everything. But I believe Oscar should be genuinely proud of the progress he made over the Mexican Grand Prix weekend,” Stella concluded.
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