“A good opportunity to keep learning” – Oscar hoping recent upgrades pay off in Mexico

Oscar Piastri believes some minor circuit-specific upgrades and adjustments to the MCL40 should help to extract more of the car’s potential at the Mexico City Grand Prix, as he looks to take the positives from last week's United States Grand Prix. 

A seventh-place finish at the challenging Circuit of the Americas, with Lando Norris in fifth, allowed Red Bull to join us on 355 points in the battle for third place in the Constructors’ Championship, but Oscar is confident improvements to the MCL40 will pay dividends amid the altitude of Mexico City. 

The Australian is also hoping that the recent upgrades will serve us well in the long term, as he looks ahead to 2027 - but not before finishing the final five races of the season in the most emphatic style possible. 

Oscar said: “In Austin, there were signs of positives in terms of some of the things we saw, but the general picture is not as positive as I want it to be. It's a good opportunity to try and keep learning and to keep everything I'm doing. 

“Obviously, we want to try and stay ahead of Red Bull in the Constructors’ Championship, but on top of that, everything is learning for next year, and hopefully, we can come out with a car that's capable of fighting for a Championship again.” 

Small updates to the MCL40 have been made to address braking reliability and performance in the Mexican capital, while the season’s remaining bigger upgrade packages are likely to arrive in Brazil and Las Vegas.  

“The upgrades are doing what we expect, but they're not very big things,” Oscar said. “We've got some more bits and pieces coming. Both of us at the moment are struggling with a car that's very sensitive to a lot of things, not just bumps. 

“The way you have to drive it is quite specific and in a narrow window. So naturally, when you've got more things outside of that making it tricky, like bumps or windy conditions, it only adds to the challenge. The car is faster now than it was before Austin. 

“The triple header before Austin was a very good step in the right direction [regarding car development], but there's still room to go on top of that. There have been the peaks so far this year, and the troughs have been too low. It’s about trying to keep those peaks and make the weekends that aren't going to be as good a lot closer to where they should be.” 

The Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez sits at 2,238m above sea level, and the thin air makes for a unique aerodynamic challenge, with downforce the watchword for the weekend. 

It was here last year that Lando took the lead in the Drivers’ World Championship, taking Pole and winning by over 30 seconds from Charles Leclerc before ultimately going on to seal his maiden title. 

Lando hopes to make more good memories in Mexico but knows he will have to be at his very best to achieve that. 

Lando said: “It could be challenging. It could be amazing. When we look at where we were so weak last weekend, it was the speed through Turns 12 to 15. But the way you have to drive our car means you can't be nice to it. You can't be smooth with it. 

“Generally, I would say last year that's what made me feel so good. Here was how smooth I could be, and how gentle I could be with the car. I had a very strong rear but a lot of front end that I could just drive very slowly in a way. This was easily my best race of the season last season. 

“But this year, I don't feel like I am going to be able to drive the car like that because that's not how the car likes to be driven. Every weekend it changes. But I think we've done a very good job to get to this situation we're in.”