Oscar Piastri told why he didn’t act like a ‘world champion’ in ‘painful’ Mexican Grand Prix

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Oscar Piastri suffered another disappointing weekend at the Mexican Grand Prix as he lost the lead of the world championship.

McLaren teammate Lando Norris claimed victory at Mexico City in dominant fashion, winning by over 30 seconds from Charles Leclerc and Max Verstappen. Piastri could only manage fifth after starting from P7.

The Aussie is without a podium in four races, having struggled to extract performances from the MCL39. The low grip at the United States and Mexico City Grand Prix hindered Piastri, who finished P5 on the road in both races.

Damon Hill questioned what happened to Piastri, as he initially qualified eighth in Mexico, but was bumped up to seventh due to a grid penalty for Carlos Sainz. Aided by Lewis Hamilton’s 10-second penalty in the race, he challenged the Mercedes drivers for fifth.

Passing Kimi Antonelli and George Russell in the second stint, the 24-year-old pushed to catch Oliver Bearman for fourth. However, a late virtual safety car stopped his charge as he was closing the gap, leaving him settling for 10 points.

Robert Doornbos felt Oscar Piastri didn’t act like a ‘world champion’ with ‘painful’ pace deficit at Mexican GP

Robert Doornbos described Piastri’s weekend as ‘painful’, as he was half a second down on Norris in qualifying. He felt that the Aussie was taking it ‘very easy’ in the race, expecting things to come his way.

“We both see it and we also see it in the lap times. I mean, for Oscar to lose half a second in qualifying is painful,” he said on the Pit Talk Podcast.

“All year before the summer break, he was within hundredths of a second of pole position and pushing the boundaries of this McLaren.

“So, yes, if you’re not really up there on it, knowing what you want from the car, this sport is painful because it just shows straight away in the lap time.

“You’re always fighting the clock, you’re always pushing the limit, and I think in the race he took it very easy, knowing that the race will come towards him.

“If he doesn’t make a mistake, people will fall off, penalties, performance of tyres, degradation etc. But it’s not racy, it’s not how you drive as a potential world champion. This was not a potential world championship drive. Lando’s, yes.”

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Did Oscar Piastri do the best he could at the Mexican Grand Prix?

Andrea Stella thinks Piastri should be ‘proud’ of his performance in Mexico and the improvements he made with his racecraft. However, he will be feeling the pressure after being dethroned for the championship lead.

Norris now leads the standings by just one point with four races and two Sprints to go. Max Verstappen is also lurking in the background, sitting 35 points behind Piastri in third.

More points potentially could have been on offer in Mexico for the 24-year-old. David Croft felt Piastri could have been ‘wiser’ to the Mercedes drivers swapping positions, as a quicker overtake could have put him on track to pass Bearman for P4.

But the Aussie’s sudden struggles with his McLaren are alarming, especially as the calendar heads to tracks that are more suited to his rivals. Stella is aware of the dangers of rain in Sao Paulo, as Verstappen could easily punish the McLarens.