Guenther Steiner thinks Oscar Piastri is having one major McLaren doubt during the F1 title run-in

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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is about to enter the most nerve-racking period of his Formula 1 career so far.

Winning a drivers’ championship is never easy, and Oscar Piastri is now learning how quickly things can change at the front of the grid.

The Australian’s advantage over McLaren teammate Lando Norris has never been comfortable, but for much of the season, he’s looked like the more consistent and reliable driver.

However, since winning the Dutch Grand Prix, very little has gone the 24-year-old’s way.

Piastri had to hand back a position to Norris at Monza after a slow pit stop for his teammate, before a nightmare weekend in Azerbaijan, where he crashed during qualifying and the race itself.

Norris faced ‘repercussions’ for barging into Piastri in Singapore, but ultimately came away with more points than his teammate.

Meanwhile, Max Verstappen has been demonstrating why he already has four championships under his belt, maximising every opportunity to suddenly put himself in title contention.

Piastri’s lead over Norris has been cut to 14 points with five races to go, while Verstappen lurks 26 points further back.

Former Haas team principal Guenther Steiner now believes Piastri is having doubts about whether McLaren are backing him as much as they should be in his quest to become a Formula 1 champion.

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Guenther Steiner thinks Oscar Piastri is ‘starting to doubt’ whether McLaren are behind him

Steiner was asked on The Red Flags Podcast what he attributes Piastri’s recent drop in performance to, and he said: “I think a little bit, a few bad races, and he can see, I don’t know if he feels that the team… because I feel the team should support him.

“Now, there is pressure coming from someone else outside the team. And when you’re a team member, you want the support to win the championship, and he doesn’t get it, and maybe he’s starting to doubt if the team is behind him, or is there anything different?

“That obviously knocks on your confidence, and when you go into a race, you need to be completely free to do things you want to do, and when you’re not free, you make mistakes.

“I mean, it’s nothing else in normal life, you know? When you’re not sure if you can do this, you cannot do it normally?

“So I think that is what this drop in confidence, or this drop in performance, is because of a drop in confidence.”

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Oscar Piastri ‘confident’ heading into the Mexico City Grand Prix

The Mexico City Grand Prix hasn’t been the happiest hunting ground for Piastri up to this point in his Formula 1 career.

Piastri rued a poor qualifying session in Mexico last year, which meant he had to recover from P17 to finish eighth.

The Australian finished eighth on his first visit to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 2023, and will know he’ll need to improve on that result to keep himself in the driving seat for the championship.

Speaking about the race in McLaren’s official pre-race preview, Piastri said: “Heading straight into another race weekend is a good opportunity to get back in the car and work with the team to maximise our performance. I’m confident it can be a productive weekend.

“I’m looking forward and focusing on getting the very best out of myself in Mexico.”