Oscar Piastri resigned over F1 title hopes after “too many mistakes” in Las Vegas

Oscar Piastri is targeting two strong races to end the year, with his F1 title hopes slipping after another difficult weekend at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Piastri lost six more points to McLaren teammate Lando Norris following Sunday’s race.

The Australian finished fourth, recovering from a poor opening lap where he was “barged out of the way” by Liam Lawson.

He ultimately recovered, undercutting Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc through the pit stop phase.

Reflecting on his race, Piastri told Sky Sports: “There’s not much to say. I felt like I was one of the only people that actually braked to make the corner. I got barged out of the way.

“That’s fine. It is what it is. The rest of the race was eventful after that as well. Few too many mistakes. From start to finish, just felt like there was some tough moments through the race.

“There was good moments of pace. I feel like in clean air we were really quick. Just difficult before I got the clean air and after.”

It wasn’t an entirely clean race for Piastri.

After a poor start, he dropped behind Leclerc after locking up before the long run down the back straight.

Piastri’s chances of a podium finish were then thwarted by Kimi Antonelli, who he was unable to overtake.

Explaining his mistakes throughout the race, Piastri said: “Just little lock ups here and there. That was it really. It’s not my favourite circuit of the year but

“I’ve got plenty of tracks that aren’t my favourites that have been good this year. I don’t think it’s anything to do with that.

“Just a pretty bad start, took a while to find the rhythm and then just got stuck behind Antonelli then for a long time as well which hampered our pace.”

Piastri on F1 title hopes

Piastri’s F1 title hopes are now hanging by a thread.

He’s 30 points behind Norris with two races (and one sprint race) to go.

Piastri will have to outscore Norris by five points or more to take the title fight to Abu Dhabi.

Assessing the title race, Piastri said: “Hopefully but obviously I need more than than now. I am going into the next two weeks trying to be as prepared as I can, be the best weekends that I can.

“It would be nice to get some good results on the board to finish the year. The championship picture is what it is. We will see what I can do.”