Oscar Piastri's grip on the Formula 1 championship has disintegrated after a challenging Mexico City Grand Prix saw him drop behind McLaren team-mate Lando Norris for the first time since April.
The Australian could only manage fifth place from seventh on the grid while Norris stormed to victory, finishing a monster 32 seconds ahead of Ferrari's Charles Leclerc in second.
It's a bitter pill for Piastri, who now trails by a single point with just four races remaining.
His late-race charge, including a bold overtake on George Russell, wasn't enough to prevent Norris from seizing the championship lead after his sixth win of the season.
Oscar Piastri's grip on the Formula 1 championship has disintegrated after a challenging Mexico City Grand Prix saw him drop behind McLaren team-mate Lando Norris for the first time since April
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The race proved frustrating from the outset for Piastri, who found himself stuck in traffic throughout.
"I felt like the whole race I was right behind someone and struggling with the dirty air," he told Sky Sports F1 afterwards.
His recovery drive from seventh showed glimpses of pace in the second stint. McLaren took a gamble with an extra pit stop, and Piastri made some progress, including a brilliant move through multiple corners against Esteban Ocon's Haas.
Oscar Piastri fell as low as ninth but managed to rescue some points by finishing in fifth
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But it wasn't enough. Whilst Norris controlled proceedings from pole position and never looked threatened, Piastri couldn't break free from the midfield battle to challenge for the podium places.
“For me the biggest thing is trying to learn the things I wanted to learn today," he continued. “Yesterday it became obvious after the session that there was a few things I needed to change pretty majorly in how I was driving.
“Today was about trying to limit the damage, but also trying to learn some things about that. If I’ve made some progress with that I’ll be happy. Obviously, when your team-mate wins the race, finishing fifth is nothing that extravagant.
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“I’ve just had to drive very differently the last couple of weekends or I’ve not driven differently when I should have.
“I think that’s been a little bit strange to get my head around because I’ve been driving exactly the same as I have all year.
“It’s just the last couple of weekends the car or the tyres or something required quite a different way of driving. I’ve just not really gone to that.
“I’ve tried to change it up a bit today and once we analyse if it’s effective or not that will hopefully help see some progress.
Lando Norris now leads the Drivers' Championship for the first time since spring
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“The car’s obviously not changed for a while so it’s nothing to do with the car. Given how the pace has differentiated, clearly Lando has found it easier to dial into that and I haven’t.
“It’s important to remember the other 19 races and the way I’ve been driving has been working pretty well."
Despite the setback, Piastri remained philosophical about his struggles: “It’s about adding some tools to the toolbox, rather than reinventing myself.”
The championship battle now sees Norris holding a slender one-point advantage, whilst Max Verstappen lurks 36 points behind in third after finishing on the podium in Mexico.
With four races left, Piastri knows he must quickly master these new driving demands to reclaim his championship lead.