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oscar piastri admits that he is surprised by how max verstappen Has entered the world championship fight.
After Piastri’s victory at Zandvoort in late August, he led team-mate lando norris By 34 points and Verstappen by 104 points.
But the Australian has not beaten Norris or Verstappen in any of the four races since and his lead has dropped to 14 over Norris and 40 ahead of the Dutchman as a real three-way battle unfolds.
red Bull Expect a strong finish again at the track where Verstappen has won five times and another successful weekend for the four-time world champion to continue to push his way into the title picture.
The 28-year-old, who declared his quest for a fifth consecutive championship over before the summer break, has beaten mclaren pair in each of the last four races.
Asked if after Zandvoort he believed his title fight was only with Norris, Piastri said: “I think probably yes, but so did everyone else. The form he (Verstappen) has had since Monza is a bit of a surprise.
“There were flashes of that performance at the beginning of the season but also a pretty big decline. He’s come into the fight quicker than I expected.”
Piastri faced difficult times Austin Last weekend, Norris crashed in the sprint and was also eliminated before finishing fifth in Sunday’s race.
But the 24-year-old player says he is not thinking about the growing threat from his rivals.
“The gap has closed a little bit in the last few races but the focus has always been to go as fast as possible,” Piastri said.
“I would rather lead than be anywhere else. There’s no benefit to me in worrying about that or focusing on that.”
With five rounds of the championship remaining, there are still 141 points to contend for before this weekend’s battle in Mexico City.
Piastri had struggled here last year and suffered a crushing defeat in the first quarter before finishing eighth in the race.
The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez presents a unique challenge to cars and drivers at an altitude of more than 2 km above sea level, with the lower air density at altitude making it more difficult to generate downforce.
Norris faced unspecified “consequences” from McLaren after being deemed responsible for a collision with Piastri in Singapore.
However, after Piastri accepted “responsibility” for the sprint crash in Austin, McLaren have decided to remove him and wipe the slate clean.
“As we do every weekend, we went through it again. There’s a certain amount of responsibility on my part for the sprint, so we’re starting this weekend with a clean slate,” he said.
“We go to the races and see who comes out on top.”
Meanwhile, a former Russian general, who is under sanctions from the United States and Britain, has been reinstated to the FIA’s World Motorsport Council.
When Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, Viktor Kiryanov voluntarily stepped down, but was reinstated in June.
An FIA spokesperson said: “The FIA is a politically neutral body, governed by a democratically elected Senate. World Motorsport Council members are elected by, and serve in, an individual capacity.
“The FIA has a long-term commitment to maintaining the neutrality of motor sport.
“The decision to allow all elected members, regardless of nationality, to continue their terms is in line with the approach of other international sporting bodies.”