Oscar Piastri reveals key Mexico finding in effort to end F1 slump

Oscar Piastri has revealed he made “steps” towards unlocking more potential from the McLaren car during the Mexico City Grand Prix.

Piastri has endured a tough run of form of late and has been out-scored by team-mate Lando Norris at each of the last five race weekends.

A dominant drive for Norris last time out in Mexico and a fifth-place result for Piastri saw Norris take over the lead of the standings for the first time since April.

Piastri has voiced confusion over where his lack of pace stems from, insisting nothing feels amiss behind the wheel.

However, the Australian suggested he found some answers during the race in Mexico City.

When asked by media including RacingNews365 if he felt the car’s pace was stronger in the race compared to Austin, Piastri replied: “Difficult to say, I think maybe a little bit better.

“It wasn't so much the pace of the car, the car was pretty quick this weekend.

“It was more just trying to unlock it, and I felt like I potentially made some steps in doing that [during the race].”

Piastri started the race from seventh on the grid, but a poor start saw him drop to ninth on the opening lap.

He ultimately climbed his way to fifth at the chequered flag to ensure he left Mexico with just a one-point deficit to Norris in the standings.

Piastri acknowledged that the true scale of the answers he found in Mexico is hard to judge due to driving much of the race in traffic.

“Ultimately, when you're behind so many cars and try and fight for so long, it's difficult to measure that a little bit,” he said.

“So hopefully we'll get a bit more indication in Brazil.”