Oscar Piastri expects this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix to be tougher for McLaren with the characteristics of the circuit not suited to the car.
While McLaren has made strong progress throughout 2023 the MCL60 still has weaknesses, with low-speed performance chief among them.
There is a strong slow-speed component to the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez courtesy of the tight stadium complex at the end of the lap, the double-right-hander midway around, and the preceding chicane.
“Here, there’s a lot of challenging parts,” Piastri said of the weekend ahead.
“Obviously the run to Turn 1 is extremely long and getting the braking point right will be difficult.
“The stadium section is very, very slow and easy to make a mistake.
“The whole track is difficult and the altitude is very high here, so the grip is quite low. It just makes everything difficult.”
Piastri’s pessimism in many respects mirrors the attitude McLaren held heading into the United States Grand Prix a week ago.
The Circuit of The Americas, on paper, was another venue that didn’t play to the strengths of the MCL60.
There, the bumps combined with the slower final sector were predicted to play against the papaya operation.
Instead, the team left Austin with a second-place finish for Lando Norris, though Piastri was an early retirement following contact with Esteban Ocon in the opening lap.
However, Mexico City isn’t expected to see a reoccurrence with Norris going so far as to suggest McLaren’s best chance of a win in 2023 is gone.
“Austin was maybe better than expectations in terms of performance,” Piastri conceded.
“It’s a very different circuit here.
“It’s my first time here, so it’ll be a lot of learning for myself to do but hopefully we can still be in the fight with the teams we’re around.”
McLaren moved into fourth in the constructors’ championship following the United States Grand Prix, seven points clear of Aston Martin.
Aston Martin endured a horror US Grand Prix which saw Lance Stroll and Fernando Alonso both start from the pit lane after opting to change the set-up of both cars ahead of the race itself.
The Silverstone-based operation has slipped backwards as the year has worn on, coinciding with McLaren’s improvements.
That has seen the latter battling with Mercedes and Ferrari for the mantle of next-best after Red Bull, a position Aston Martin arguably held in the early rounds.
Aston Martin introduced upgrades for the United States Grand Prix which it hopes will see it close back up in the final four races of the year.
Track action in Mexico begins with Free Practice 1 at 05:30 AEDT on Saturday (Friday, 12:30 local time).
