Verstappen chasing glory as McLaren duo bid to bounce back

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.

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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 teammate 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.

His qualifying form has deteriorated at a similar rate.