Oscar Piastri faces a major challenge in the United States Grand Prix to ensure his title advantage does not take a significant hit, with him having "just not clicked" at the Circuit of the Americas.
The championship leader could only secure sixth on the grid for the grand prix, while title rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris will start from the front row.
Verstappen has already taken eight points out of his deficit to Piastri this weekend after the Dutchman won Saturday's Sprint, helped by the McLarens crashing into each other.
It means Piastri enters the 19th race of the year with a 22-point lead over Norris and a 55-point buffer over Verstappen, two gaps which could take huge hits if he fails to recover big points from sixth.
Despite his sprint collision with Norris, Piastri has struggled for pace throughout the weekend compared to his nearest rivals.
Discussing this weekend being a struggle, Piastri told select media including RacingNews365: "Yeah, it has been. Just getting in the rhythm with the car [has been difficult].
"It's a track that is tough and you need a lot of confidence on and there's a lot of corners to make you pay for it if you don't have that feeling. And I feel like on Friday, there was a few kind of relatively clear opportunities to try and find.
"But in qualifying, it felt like my laps were okay, maybe not the best laps of my life, but in line with with laps I've done before. Just unfortunately, lap time didn't come."
Viewed by others:
Piastri vs. Norris speed difference
Piastri's title advantage has been consistently whittled away in recent rounds, with Norris having finished ahead of his team-mate in the last three grands prix.
Norris has found himself with an increasing pace advantage over Piastri since the summer break, particularly across Singapore and in COTA.
Asked if being behind Norris in Singapore and Austin is down to the Briton finding form or him struggling, Piastri responded: "I'm not sure I share the same opinion about Singapore.
"I feel like it was a good weekend, apart from, obviously the race result. I think here, yes, it has been a struggle for me.
"I don't feel like there's been anything [bad], I don't feel like I've made any major mistakes. So from a driving side of things, it's just not clicked.
"It's not been so much of over-driving, it's just been I haven't felt comfortable with the car, really. So I think that's been the story of this weekend, but I don't think it's been the story of the last few."
Most read
In this article
Join the conversation!