Helmut Marko rubs salt in Oscar Piastri's wounds as Max Verstappen slashes championship lead by 64 points in 4 races

Red Bull F1 team advisor Helmut Marko has taken a cheeky dig at Oscar Piastri after his underwhelming outing at the United States Grand Prix. The drivers' championship leader started and finished in P5 in the feature race at the Circuit of The Americas, while Max Verstappen took a dominant lights-to-flag victory.

In the last four races, the Dutchman, who sits P3 in the standings behind Lando Norris, has reduced the gap to leader Piastri from 104 points to 40 points - a mammoth reduction of 64 points. Going into the US GP weekend, the gap between Verstappen and Piastri was 63 points.

The McLaren pair DNFed after a lap 1 collision in the Sprint race, which Max Verstappen won to earn eight points. The Red Bull driver replicated his heroics in the main race on Sunday, while neither McLaren driver could improve their position. Lando Norris started and finished in P2 (earning 18 points) and Oscar Piastri in P5 (earning 10 points). This helped the four-time F1 champion reduce the gap to Norris in the standings to 26 points and the gap to Piastri to 40 points.

Helmut Marko points out that McLaren no longer seems to have a massive advantage over its rivals, like in the first half of 2025. Moreover, he hoped that Oscar Piastri continues to struggle like he did at the US GP.

"It's clear now that McLaren no longer has the same ease," Marko said via Oe24. "Piastri had a bit of a tough time today (US GP), too. I hope it stays that way."

Five more races remain in the 2025 F1 season. That means Verstappen has more room to hunt down the remaining 40-point gap than he needed to bring it down from 104 to 40 points. Moreover, Red Bull is also gearing up to bring an upgrade to its RB21, as revealed by Helmut Marko.

Oscar Piastri gives his verdict on whether McLaren should favor one driver to win the 2025 drivers' championship

Oscar Piastri gives an interview at the F1 United States Grand Prix - Source: Getty

With Max Verstappen swiftly making the 2025 F1 drivers' championship battle a three-way affair, McLaren might need to prioritize championship leader Oscar Piastri to ensure the team doesn't lose the title to the Red Bull driver. Former Haas F1 team principal Guenther Steiner suggested the same after the Singapore GP, which Verstappen won.

However, after the United States GP, where the same trend continued, Piastri ruled out the possibility of McLaren favoring one driver.

"I don’t know. I don’t think so," the Australian said via Sky Sports. "We’re still so incredibly tight, and we both have said we want an opportunity to try and fight for the championship because we deserve it. It’s far too close to start picking one over the other."

Piastri also spoke about how his "mentality hasn't changed" regarding the title battle, and he will continue to do the "best job" irrespective of the points situation. After the US GP in Texas, F1 heads south for the Mexico Grand Prix race weekend from October 24 to 26.

Edited by Yash Kotak