Oscar Piastri’s grip on the 2025 F1 world championship is loosening after another unsettling qualifying performance in Mexico City on Saturday.
The McLaren driver, who leads the title race, will start Sunday’s Grand Prix from a lowly seventh on the grid after qualifying eighth, being promoted one place thanks to Carlos Sainz’s penalty.
Yet that minor reprieve will do little to ease the concerns surrounding the Aussie’s performance level this weekend.
Piastri’s best effort in Q3 left him 0.588 seconds adrift of pole-sitter and teammate Lando Norris, a gulf that has left both driver and team scratching their heads.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described the time loss as “milliseconds in every corner,” but to Piastri, the cumulative effect has been anything but negligible.
©McLaren
“The gap was big in that session and it's been big all weekend,” he admitted.
“There's been some things where I felt like I can tidy it up and make some easy progress, but not all of it. And I think in qualifying, I feel like I did a reasonable job and the car felt reasonable as well. So, yeah, the lack of lap time is a bit of a mystery.”
A Mystery That Won’t Go Away
Piastri’s frustration is compounded by the fact that this is now the second consecutive weekend in which he has been outpaced by Norris, following a subdued showing in Austin.
Coming into Mexico, the 24-year-old had hoped the issues that plagued him at the Circuit of The Americas were track-specific – yet they appear to have followed him south of the border.
“In some ways, not too dissimilar,” he said when asked to compare the two weekends. “I think what's been a bit surprising here has just been that the gap [to Norris] has been the same pretty much every session.
©McLaren
“I feel like I've done some decent laps through the weekend, but everything seems to be about four or five tenths off.
“So that's obviously not a great sign. But some of the things that were difficult in Austin are also proving difficult here.”
The numbers tell their own story. Even reaching Q3 required effort and risk. Piastri narrowly squeezed through the second segment in seventh, just 0.079 seconds clear of Yuki Tsunoda, who missed the cut.
It was a performance that lacked the authority one might expect from the man leading the world championship.
‘I’ve not changed how i’m driving’
For Piastri, the greatest concern is the lack of a clear explanation. Despite maintaining confidence in his driving approach, the time gap to Norris has remained stubbornly consistent – a worrying sign with only a handful of races left in the title fight.
“I think from Austin there were some things that were clear,” Piastri said. “But even those things that were clear were a bit unusual, some of the differences. Again, this weekend it's been a bit different.
“I've not changed really how I'm driving since the start of the season and even a few races ago when things were going really well. So it's difficult to pinpoint where the lap time's been lacking this weekend.
“But I'm sure we'll find it.”
Piastri, who has driven with remarkable composure throughout the season, suddenly faces a defining test of temperament and adaptability. The numbers may still favor him in the championship, but the momentum – and perhaps the confidence – is clearly slipping away.
In his own words, the issue remains a mystery. Yet with the Mexican altitude amplifying every car’s quirks and the season entering its climax, the danger for Piastri is that the mystery becomes a trend.
Read also: Norris ‘pleasantly surprised’ by electrifying pole lap in Mexico
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