Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri, Circuit of the Americas, 2025

Oscar Piastri admitted he thought the championship fight would be between the two McLaren drivers after he pulled over 100 points clear of Max Verstappen earlier this year.

However Verstappen has cut 64 points out of his deficit to Piastri over the last four rounds. The McLaren driver admitted “the run of form that he’s had since Monza has been a bit of a surprise.”

“There were flashes of that kind of performance at certain points earlier in the season, but there were also some pretty big dips,” Piastri continued. “So for him to now be consistent – that has been a bit of a surprise.”

Red Bull have brought upgrades to their car at a faster rate than McLaren over recent rounds which Piastri believes has had an effect.

“We know they’ve still been throwing a lot of things at their car, trying to improve it, so in some ways, it’s not a huge surprise,” he said. “But I think for everyone he’s probably come into the fight quicker than I expected.”

However Piastri said he isn’t dwelling on the threat Verstappen poses to his title chances now the pair are separated by just 40 points.

“It’s not really something I think about,” he said. “He’s been very consistent in the last few weekends and been strong as well – there’s no denying that. But for me, there’s no benefit in worrying about that or focusing on that.

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“The thing that’s going to help me win this championship is trying to get the most out of myself, the most out of the car, the most out of the team around me, and worrying about anyone else on the grid is not focusing on that. So he’s there, he’s in the fight, but ultimately that doesn’t change how I’m going to approach my racing.”

McLaren were consistently the team to beat earlier in the year but have not scored a win in the last four grands prix. Piastri said it’s “very difficult to read” how competitive they will be over the remaining four rounds.

“For me, it’s difficult to predict who’s going to be strong where,” he said. “I think if anything, it’s more about who maximises their car each weekend rather than whose car suits different things.

“There were certain things in Austin that potentially worked well for us, but certain things that didn’t, and a lot of other circumstances. So it’s very, very difficult to judge, but I think it will be close everywhere we go.”

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