Pressure, but no panic as Piastri keeps calm and carries on

MEXICO CITY :If Oscar Piastri is feeling the heat, more than usual in the furnace of Mexico City's high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, McLaren's Formula One leader is doing a good job of hiding it.

The 24-year-old has teammate Lando Norris breathing down his neck 14 points behind while Red Bull's resurgent champion Max Verstappen is biting great chunks out of his lead with five rounds remaining.

The pressure is ramping up but Piastri, even if his advantage has slipped away with mistakes creeping in and some frustration emerging on track, has his own narrative.

"Obviously the last few weekends have been a bit tougher than some of the ones, especially at the beginning of the season, but ultimately I still feel good," the Australian told Reuters at the Mexico City Grand Prix.

"Things are tight, things are close, but it's been like that for pretty much the whole season.

"For me, whether the championship lead was one point or whether it was 50, it's ultimately not going to change what I'm here to try and do."

BEATEN BY NORRIS IN THE LAST FOUR RACES

Piastri has been beaten by Norris in the last four races and not won since the Netherlands at the end of August, when Verstappen was 104 points behind. The four-times world champion has since closed the gap to 40.

If some fear he could be tossing it all away, with the Aussie battler in danger of becoming an Aussie bottler, Piastri is unflustered.

"I know there's people in this fight, I know that it's going to be tight, but I've known that for a very long time," he said. "The stakes do go up the closer to the end of the season you get and there's more effort that goes into trying to manage it.

"Ultimately if you're fighting for anything worth fighting for, or success on any stage,