Oscar Piastri has conceded that his 2025 Formula 1 title chances are now not in his hands, after losing further ground to Lando Norris in the points standings in Las Vegas.
The Australian was elevated to fourth at the end of the Las Vegas race after benefitting from Andrea Kimi Antonelli's five-second penalty for moving before the start, but Norris' second place grew the gap between them to 30 points. There are 58 points on the table in the final two rounds, as the next round in Qatar hosts a sprint weekend.
Piastri had been 34 points ahead of Norris after Zandvoort's Dutch Grand Prix, but this lead was whittled away in the subsequent rounds and Norris reclaimed the lead of the championship by a point after winning in Mexico. In the two races since, Norris has outscored Piastri by a further 29 points.
The gravity of the situation has not escaped Piastri's notice; he believes that a potential title is still on, but noted that winning the remaining races would not be enough to turn the tide. He needs Norris - and Max Verstappen, who sits 12 points behind Piastri - to encounter a palpable level of misfortune in the final two rounds.
"I think [the title is still possible], but it's obviously now in the position where I can't just win it by winning races," Piastri said after the Las Vegas race. "But what I can do is put myself in the best position to capitalise on if something does happen.
"So for my own pride, ego and opportunities, I want to win the next two races. But that's all I can do. If things go my way, things go my way. And if they don't, then it is what it is. I'll try my best to have a good couple of last weekends.
"It is an outside chance now. Like I said, I need things outside of my control to also happen.
"In some ways [it takes the pressure off], but it doesn't change the desire to want to do my best and try and win. And that's what I'll be focused on."
Piastri started fifth in Las Vegas, but lost position to both Racing Bulls drivers at the start of the race - compounded by contact with Liam Lawson at the first corner. However, Piastri was able to recover positions and lauded the McLaren team for a "superb" strategy.
He said that this had mitigated the more "difficult" moments during the Las Vegas race, where he found good clean air pace but struggled to make passes while running in the dirty air of other cars.
"Sometimes all you can do is laugh and try and find the silver lining in things," Piastri explained. "Again, I think the pace in clean air today was good, and there's been things out of my control that haven't gone well recently, but there's also been things in my control that haven't gone well.
"And I think that race was a combination of both. So there's things I need to tidy up. But I think there's been some good positives from the last two weekends as well, just the results have not really gone to plan.
"I think for us as a team [Qatar] should be a good race. Obviously the strategy is kind of already defined, let's say, so there's that change from last year. But it's a track I enjoy, a track I've done well at before, so hopefully it'll be a good weekend."
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