Oscar Piastri gives his take on the impact of the late race virtual safety car in battle with Ollie Bearman 

Oscar Piastri spoke about his battle with Ollie Bearman in Mexico. Speaking to media, including Sportskeeda, after the race, the McLaren driver said that overtaking Bearman would have been difficult regardless of the VSC intervention.

Starting ninth, Piastri recovered to finish fifth, but it was one where there was a potential to finish higher. A VSC caused by Carlos Sainz’s stoppage neutralized the race just as Piastri had entered Bearman’s DRS range on lap 70.

The timing denied Piastri an opportunity to overtake. Piastri reflected on the race and said he had been experimenting with different driving approaches to extract more performance from the car after a puzzling qualifying session.

While unsure whether the adjustments made a tangible difference, he felt the team would gain clearer insights once the data was fully analyzed. Asked by Sportskeeda if it was possible to get past Bearman if it weren’t for the VSC, Oscar Piastri said:

“I think it would have been very, very tough. It was one thing getting into DRS, and then it was another thing trying to overtake, so I'm not sure it made much difference in the end.”

Asked about how encouraging his race was in terms of the championship, Oscar Piastri said:

“It is difficult to say, ultimately, I think I certainly tried a lot of different things. But like I stayed at the back of a lot of cars as well, so it was difficult to kind of get a read on, whether what I was changing my driving was working that well or not. But ultimately, yeah, we'll have to analyse it and see if it looks good in terms of the numbers and stuff, because from a feeling point of view, when you're behind that many cars, it's very difficult to tell.”

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Oscar Piastri believes the Mexican GP has been a learning experience in terms of driving the MCL39 differently

Oscar Piastri admitted that the Mexican Grand Prix forced him to drive against his natural style to extract the best from his car. The Australian has endured a challenging run of form since the summer break, which has seen his championship lead shrink considerably.

Acknowledging his recent struggles, Piastri described the Mexican race as a valuable learning experience. He noted that the past few weekends have favored his teammate Lando Norris, whose performances have helped him edge ahead in the title battle by a single point.

Despite the setback, Piastri believes adapting his approach has provided key insights that could help him regain momentum in the remaining races. Asked how much of a learning experience the Mexican GP has been in terms of making his driving style suit the car, Oscar Piastri said:

“It's certainly been a learning experience, that's for sure, I think. It’s yeah, for some reason, the last couple of weekends has required a very different way of driving. And, you know, what's worked well for me in the last 19 races has needed something very different in the last couple of weekends. I'm trying to wrap my head around why it has been a bit of a struggle. But ultimately today it was about trying to experiment with some of those things because I would agree I think driving the way I've had to drive these last couple of weekends is not particularly natural for me. So it's been about trying to exploit as much as I can.”

Oscar Piastri currently sits one point behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris in the drivers’ championship, with Max Verstappen a further 35 points adrift. With 116 points still up for grabs across two sprint weekends and four races, the title battle is intensifying, particularly between the McLaren duo.

While Verstappen still holds an outside chance of retaining his crown, the main focus remains on the intra-team fight at McLaren. The Woking-based squad has already secured the constructors’ championship, clinching it in Singapore, and now leads Ferrari by a commanding 357 points with a total of 713.