"I still fully believe that I can win the championship," says Oscar Piastri as Max Verstappen and Lando Norris draw ever closer.

A lacklustre weekend in Texas, which followed an equally disappointing race in Singapore and an absolute nightmare in Azerbaijan, has seen the Australian's lead over his teammate reduced to 14 points, while Max Verstappen has taken 64 points out of his lead in just four weekends.

Nonetheless, Piastri is confident that he can still claim the 2025 crown, despite the fact that he hasn't been on the podium since Monza and McLaren hasn't won a race since Zandvoort.

"I'd still rather be where I am than the other two," the Australian told reporters post-race. "Definitely Max and Red Bull have found a lot of pace since the summer break," he added. "We saw flashes of it at the start of the year, but it's been consistent since then.

"I've been in fights that were as close or at this point even closer than what they are now," he insisted. "So I've got the evidence for myself that things can still turn out well and I still fully believe that I can win the championship.

"This weekend has obviously been tough," he admitted, "and the gap has come down a little bit in the last few weekends.

"There's still a long way to go in the championship," he said. "It is still, for Max anyway, he's obviously chased it down pretty quick, but it's not exactly a small gap with five rounds to go.

"Ultimately, if we can find our way again, find our pace, certainly for me find our pace again, then I don't have any major concerns."

However, it is the mysterious loss of pace in recent races that gives cause for concern, that and the obvious crack in Piastri's usually stoic facade.

The constructors' crown brings the prize money but the drivers' title has the prestige, and as Verstappen continues to reel in the Papaya pair at some point the team is almost certain to throw its weight behind one of its drivers and on current form it is most likely to be Norris.

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