Oscar Piastri still confident despite slashed F1 title lead

CANBERRA: McLaren’s Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri is still confident despite of lead slashed by teammate Lando Norris and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

It was a difficult weekend for Piastri in Austin as he got involved in a costly sprint race collision with his McLaren teammate Norris and both were dumped out. The Australian managed only fifth position in the sprint as Verstappen eased to victory. Verstappen cut the deficit to 40 points after clinching the US Grand Prix from pole position, while Norris is now just 14 points behind his McLaren teammate after being second on the podium. It looks like the Australian is not in the form as he has not won a single race since Zandvoort five races ago, while both Norris and Verstappen has finished ahead of him in a fourth race in a row. Piastri admitted that momentum is not on his side and this weekend was tough for him but he still believes that he can still turned the tables with five rounds to go and 141 points to fight for.

“I’d still rather be where I am than the other two,” Piastri said. “Definitely Max and Red Bull have found a lot of pace since the summer break as well. We saw flashes of it at the start of the year, but it’s been consistent since then. “I’ve been in fights that were as close or at this point even closer than what they are now. So I’ve got the evidence for myself that things can still turn out well and I still fully believe that I can win the championship. “This weekend has obviously been tough and the gap has come down a little bit in the last few weekends.” Web Desk