Andrea Stella - Photo: RacePictures

Piastri faces potential pivotal moment in Las Vegas amid tight title race

13:48, 02 Nov

byTobia Elia

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella doesn’t expect the layout of the final four remaining circuits to favour either driver in the title fight.

"I think in the final four races, no reason to think that one may favour one driver or the other"

- Andrea Stella

Last year, the Papaya team finished the Las Vegas race only in sixth and seventh, losing valuable points in the fight against Ferrari for the Constructors’ Championship — which they still managed to win by the end of the season.

The Nevada race, the next one after Interlagos this coming weekend, could prove a crucial turning point, especially for Oscar Piastri. In Mexico, he lost the championship lead and has struggled to find pace in low-grip conditions in recent races, unlike his teammate.

However, Stella doesn’t believe the layout of the remaining four circuits will favour either driver, emphasizing that the focus is more on extracting the car’s full potential to avoid repeat weekends like Las Vegas last year.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella - Photo Race Pictures

"I think in the final four races, no reason to think that one may favour one driver or the other," he told media after the race in Mexico. "Vegas, if anything, has proven to be a challenge for McLaren overall. Last year we were not competitive, we needed to learn something, if anything, during the race, just to try and make some changes to see if we could stop the graining.

"This year the tyres, they do play much less than last year, so it could be a slightly different Vegas. From this point of view, it will be interesting to see. I think for Lando and Oscar, there is no problem in terms of track layout coming in the next four races.

"If anything we need to make sure that from a McLaren point of view we are in condition to extract the full performance that is available in the car, like we have been able to do it here in Mexico. We have some reservations but in a few of the previous races we have actually been able to do it."

McLaren reveals why Norris shined while Piastri struggled in Mexico

While Norris managed to put together a perfect weekend, starting with an undisputed pole on Saturday and a dominant victory with the largest margin of the season, the Australian was never able to match his teammate’s performance, qualifying only eighth and climbing just to fifth in the race.

As a result, Piastri ended up losing the championship lead — something he hadn’t experienced since the Saudi Arabian GP at the start of the season — while Norris now seems to have all the momentum on his side with four races remaining.

When asked about the gap between the two drivers in Mexico and more generally in recent races, Stella offered an explanation for the current performance difference between them.

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