Fraser MasefieldFor F1 championship leader Oscar Piastri, the last few races have not gone quite as smoothly as he would have liked.
Following an opening lap DNF in Baku, the Australian has since finished behind title rivals Norris and Verstappen in Singapore before a scruffy qualifying sees him line up only sixth for the US GP in Austin, Texas.
“A tricky day for us today,” Piastri is quoted on the official McLaren F1 website. “Obviously not the result we wanted in the Sprint. It’s shame to have not been able to finish. Massive thanks to the team for the big effort to get our cars back together.
“Quali was a tougher one compared to Sprint Quali. I just didn’t really feel particularly comfortable in the car, so wasn’t able to put it all together. But it’s a long race tomorrow, and anything can happen, so we’ll make up some places and do what we can.”
For teammate Norris, race day represents another great opportunity to eat into that 22 point championship lead with six races remaining. He’s determined to make the most of it.
“The conditions changed, which didn’t help, but I also didn’t put my best lap in on Q3, so to be P2 isn’t too bad,” added Norris. “The team in the garage did a great job getting the car back together, so thank you to them.
“We don’t have a lot of long-run data to work on, but our race pace has often been better than our Quali pace, so I’m optimistic but realistic about our chances for tomorrow.”
The man they will both be looking over their shoulder at is the brilliant Verstappen, who has certainly been the form driver over the last few races. They will count him out at their peril.
Ride onboard with Max Verstappen as he clinches the @pirellisport Pole Position for the United States Grand Prix! 👊💨#F1 #USGP pic.twitter.com/tZh2AbNEBz
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 19, 2025
“This Max guy,” McLaren team boss Zak Brown told BBC Sport, “he’s relentless. “So I’m more focused on making sure he doesn’t get himself any more in the game than he already is, because our goal is to finish one-two in the drivers’ championship, give our guys equal opportunity to decide who’s first, who’s second.
“What we really don’t want is that Max guy getting in the middle of our fun.”
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