Oscar Piastri has recognised his Formula 1 title hopes in 2025 are no longer in his hands as he surrendered more ground to Lando Norris in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Piastri crossed the line where he started at the Las Vegas Strip Circuit, but he was boosted up to fourth once Andrea Kimi Antonelli’s five-second penalty was applied.
However, that provided little solace to Piastri as Norris ended up second behind Max Verstappen to see the gap between the two McLaren drivers extend to 30 points.
The Australian had held a 34-point lead over Norris when he won at Zandvoort in August, but a six-race run without a podium has seen his championship bid collapse.
But while he has insisted that he hasn’t given up on the title, Piastri has acknowledged that victories in the last two races would not be enough to see him be crowned.
“I think [the title is still possible], but it’s obviously now in the position where I can’t just win it by winning races,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week.
“But what I can do is put myself in the best position to capitalise on if something does happen.
“So for my own pride, ego and opportunities, I want to win the next two races. But that’s all I can do.
“If things go my way, things go my way. And if they don’t, then it is what it is. I’ll try my best to have a good couple of last weekends.
“It is an outside chance now. Like I said, I need things outside of my control to also happen.
“In some ways [it takes the pressure off], but it doesn’t change the desire to want to do my best and try and win. And that’s what I’ll be focused on.”
Piastri seeking ‘silver linings’ amid tough run
Piastri’s race was compromised at the start when Liam Lawson locked up going into Turn 1 and barged into his McLaren, costing him spots to both Racing Bulls cars.
“Sometimes all you can do is laugh and try and find the silver lining in things,” he explained.
“Again, I think the pace in clean air today was good, and there’s been things out of my control that haven’t gone well recently, but there’s also been things in my control that haven’t gone well.
“And I think that race was a combination of both. So there’s things I need to tidy up.
“But I think there’s been some good positives from the last two weekends as well, just the results have not really gone to plan.
“I think for us as a team [Qatar] should be a good race. Obviously the strategy is kind of already defined, let’s say, so there’s that change from last year.
“But it’s a track I enjoy, a track I’ve done well at before, so hopefully it’ll be a good weekend.”
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