PIASTRI ON MCLAREN’S 'VERY DIFFICULT TO KNOW’ MEXICO CHANCES

Oscar Piastri can't get a clean read on McLaren's Mexico pace after Friday running left more questions than answers. The Australian placed eighth in FP1 — where reserve driver Leonardo Fornaroli logged test items in the sister car — then slipped to tenth in FP2 despite calling his day "reasonable." Lando Norris fared better, splitting the Ferraris with P2 in the second session, but Piastri flagged the Scuderia as the benchmark. "Ferrari have looked very strong," he said, though he admitted his soft-tyre run was "pretty scruffy."

The bigger issue: half the grid ran rookies in FP1, muddying the competitive picture. McLaren's Randy Singh confirmed the top four are "very tight" and warned that temperature management — already causing lock-ups on Friday — will decide Sunday. Piastri's caution makes sense. With Ferrari quick out of the gate and McLaren still dialing in the setup at altitude, qualifying will show whether the papaya cars can challenge.