Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are both adamant that their approach to the ongoing Formula 1 title battle will not change despite the lead changing hands in Mexico.
Norris returned to the summit with an immaculate weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, where he converted pole position into a crushing 30-second win.
Piastri had topped the Drivers’ Championship since April, and his advantage had stood as high as 34 points when Norris ground to a stop late in the Dutch Grand Prix.
However, Piastri has not appeared on the podium in the four races since he prevailed at Zandvoort, allowing his team-mate and Max Verstappen back into contention.
But while the momentum is now with him, Norris, who harbours a one-point lead over Piastri, has vowed that he will continue to take each remaining race as it comes.
Put to him that Zandvoort must seem like a long time ago now, Norris told media including Motorsport Week: “It’s still very clear in my head.
“I mean, you put that behind you. Right? You forget about that as much as you can, and focus on every race coming up. You forget about every previous weekend.
“Of course, you try and learn from every situation, but every weekend’s new and you have a fresh start to try new things and try and do better than before. And I feel like that’s what I’ve done very well this weekend.
“So, you know, the last few have been decent. This has easily been my best performance.
“But still a long way to go, so I just have to keep doing what I’m doing, keep trying to be consistent against some very quick guys around me. I think that’ll be good.
“But it doesn’t mean because I’m ahead or behind or whatever that I have to drive or do anything differently. So, just keep doing what I’m doing.”
Piastri going back to the drawing board
Piastri, who was at a loss to decipher the sizeable six-tenths margin to Norris’ pole time, admitted to experimenting in the race in a bid to understand his recent woes.
Asked how he can regain the points lead between now and the chequered flag waving in Abu Dhabi, Piastri replied: “Find some more pace and win some more races.”
“Difficult to know what to expect [in the coming races], I think clearly the pace in the car has been strong this weekend. I’ve not really been able to unlock it that much.
“I think we’ll clearly learn if we changed some things today and made progress with that.
“And yeah, I think if I have then that will leave me relatively happy, if there’s still some things to learn then back to the drawing board a bit.”
Norris not discounting Verstappen challenge
Despite gaining 10 points on Verstappen as McLaren rediscovered the team’s earlier-season dominance in Mexico, Norris is still prudent about the Dutchman’s threat.
Questioned on whether he believes he is the favourite again, Norris answered: “For the championship, I mean, who knows? It’s still pretty tight between us.
“Max has still caught me over the last, what, six, seven weekends.
“So, yeah, write what you want. It’s your decision. But I’ve been keeping my head down, keeping focus, doing my own thing, and that’s all you can do.
“But every weekend’s new, every weekend’s different, and still a long way to go.”
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