F1 leader Piastri in poor form and fighting to hold off Norris, Verstappen in title chase

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri of Australia

Oscar Piastri likely can’t leave Texas fast enough.

McLaren’s Formula 1 championship leader certainly wasn’t very fast Sunday at the Circuit of the Americas as teammate and title rival Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen both took big bites out his points advantage at the United States Grand Prix.

Verstappen won for the third time in four races and Norris finished second. Piastri was a disappointing fifth.

What looked like a cruise control finish to his first career championship over the summer is now shaping up as a potential heart-pounding grind over the final five races of the season starting next weekend in Mexico City.

Piastri still leads Norris by 14 points and Verstappen by 40, but nothing feels comfortable any more.

“I’d still rather be where I am than the other two, but obviously this weekend was not what I wanted or expected,” Piastri said.

His misery started Saturday when he crashed into Norris on the first turn of the sprint race and knocked out both cars. Verstappen won the sprint, punctuating the the mishap between teammates that came in the first race after first-lap scrap in Singapore had raised internal tension.

Piastri started Sunday sixth but only made up one place. The Verstappen-Norris 1-2 finish made it the fourth consecutive race Piastri has lost points to both drivers.

Verstappen has shaved a 104-point deficit to 40 in just four races. That includes the Azerbaijan Grand Prix when Piastri crashed on the first lap.

“Max and Red Bull have found a lot of pace since the summer break. We saw flashes of it at the start of the year, but it’s been consistent since then,” Piastri said.

Piastri said before the race he did not expect the team to favor either driver for the championship over the final stretch of the season. He was asked again after his poor race on Sunday.

“I don’t think so. We are so incredibly tight and we both said we want an opportunity to try and fight for the championship because we deserve it,” Piastri told Sky Sports. “I think it is far too close to start picking one or the other.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the team should relish the chance to fight for a drivers championship.

“It is a privilege to be there, we have the pace to be there. It is about execution, believing in it and we do believe,” Stella said. “We never want to lose the joy of doing that. The tension is part of the game.” JIM VERTUNO, AUSTIN, MDT/AP