MEXICO CITY, Oct 23 — Max Verstappen chases a fourth win in five starts this weekend as he bids to heap more pressure on McLaren duo Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris at the Mexico City Grand Prix, one of his most rewarding tracks.

Red Bull’s four-time world champion, who has won five times in seven years at the high-altitude Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, has cut Piastri’s lead ahead of him, in third place, from 104 points to 40 since August with a scintillating burst of form.

Piastri still leads team-mate Norris by 14 points, but he has lost his metronomic consistency and, as McLaren appear to be floundering to match Red Bull for pace, he appears also, like Norris, to be weighed down by the pressure of the title battle.

After finishing on the podium in every race bar one since the season-opener in Australia, his last three results have been a retirement, fourth and fifth.

Norris has also struggled for consistency, but appeared in Texas last weekend to have regained some confidence and pace as he finished second behind Verstappen, who had started from pole and also won the sprint.

He remains, however, without a win since the Hungarian race in August.

“They are weighed down with this looming battle,” said former IndyCar driver and prominent analyst James Hinchcliffe, speaking on the F1 Nation podcast.

“Even Red Bull in 2024 started the season strong, but once McLaren caught up... you started seeing their pit stops falter a little bit.

“Pressure is an interesting thing. You always want to be the hunted because it means you’ve got the points lead, but passing is tough in F1 — on track and in a championship.”