McLaren ‘fear’ one scenario developing for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri at the Mexican Grand Prix

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Oscar Piastri will have his latest chance to break the momentum that Lando Norris and Max Verstappen are building in the F1 drivers’ title fight at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

The 2025 F1 season continues at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend straight off the back of Verstappen doing the double at COTA a week ago. Red Bull driver Verstappen won the F1 Sprint and the United States Grand Prix to get definitively back in the title battle.

Verstappen now trails McLaren rival Piastri atop the F1 drivers’ standings by 40 points ahead of round 20 of this year’s 24 at the Mexico City GP. Norris sits second in the standings with a 14-point deficit to his papaya pal, with five Grands Prix and two Sprints still to play this term.

Piastri has watched his lead in the drivers’ championship shrink in every round since he won the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August. Verstappen left his home race facing a 104-point deficit to the Australian, while Norris’ retirement at Zandvoort left him 34 points off the lead.

McLaren ‘fear’ tyre graining for Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in the Mexico City Grand Prix

Piastri’s race-ending crash in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix and lack of pace in the United States GP, on top of him also crashing into Norris in the Sprint at COTA, have been the most severe. Verstappen outscored Piastri by 25 points in Baku, and by 23 points across the Austin round.

READ MORE: Everything to know about the Mexico City Grand Prix, including past winners

Red Bull may expect Verstappen will further reduce his deficit to Piastri in the championship at the Mexico City GP, as well. He has won five times at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in the past and the track should suit the RB21, while potentially giving McLaren a headache.

According to FunoAnalisiTecnica, McLaren ‘particularly fear’ the prospect of tyre graining for Piastri and Norris in Sunday’s Mexico City GP, as Pirelli have chosen the C2, C4 and C5 tyres as the hard, medium and soft compounds to combat the expected low levels of degradation.

Red Bull star Verstappen will likely benefit from the expected lack of tyre management. But McLaren fear Piastri and Norris will face tyre graining after the Woking squad’s drivers both suffered ‘quite a bit’ with overheating the rear axle during last weekend’s United States GP.

Max Verstappen will look to punish McLaren’s fears and reduce his 40-point deficit to Oscar Piastri

Piastri crashing into Norris at the start of the COTA Sprint last Saturday meant McLaren had to compromise their drivers’ set-ups for last Sunday’s United States GP due to their lack of long-run data. But the set-up that Piastri adopted would not see him challenge at the front.

While Norris finished the United States GP in P2 for 18 points, after he also qualified in P2 at COTA, Piastri would only rise from his P6 starting position to finish in P5 for six points. Piastri also finished the United States GP 29.678s behind Verstappen, and also 21.719s from Norris.

Now, Verstappen might feel confident about further reducing his 40-point deficit to Piastri in the standings, which McLaren’s fears before the Mexico City GP would only enhance. Piastri came P8 during each of his previous appearances at the Mexico City GP in 2023 and 2024.