Oscar Piastri’s grip on the Formula 1 World Championship took another hit at the United States Grand Prix, where the McLaren driver finished a distant fifth and left Austin with more questions than answers.

The Australian, who endured an early crash in the Sprint race that took out teammate Lando Norris, managed just 10 points from the weekend, his smallest haul since midseason.

That result cut Piastri’s championship lead to just 14 points over Norris, while Max Verstappen’s dominant double — victories in both the Sprint and main race — trimmed his own deficit to 40 points with five rounds remaining.

For Piastri, it was another difficult step in what has been a slow decline since his victory at Zandvoort, losing nearly 60 points to Verstappen over the last five races.

“I Don’t Have Great Ideas Right Now”

Speaking post-race, a candid Piastri conceded he’s in a tricky stretch performance-wise. “I don’t have any great ideas at the moment,” he admitted. “Qualifying was clean, but the pace just wasn’t there. It was a pretty similar story in the race.”

He acknowledged that Austin’s challenging layout historically hasn’t suited him: “You’ve got very high-speed corners and very low-speed corners, so you need to be strong in both. It’s not been a particularly happy hunting ground for me.”

Despite that, Piastri refrained from panic, emphasizing that rhythm and setup understanding hold the key. “If we can find our pace again, things will take care of themselves.”

Championship Pressure Mounting

With 141 points still on the table, the championship picture is anything but settled. Verstappen’s resurgence has injected fresh tension into the fight, while Norris’s consistency continues to pressure McLaren’s team dynamic.

For Piastri, the upcoming rounds represent a mental and mechanical challenge: rediscovering the form that once made him the season’s standout driver. “Max has closed the gap pretty quickly, but it’s not exactly a small one,” he noted. “We just need to find our pace again, and soon.”

The calm confidence in his tone suggests that, even with the tide turning, Oscar Piastri isn’t ready to relinquish his title hopes just yet.