In a tensely-contested session, the 25-year-old Briton, who is 14 points behind McLaren teammate Piastri in the drivers’ championship, clocked a fastest lap in one minute and 16.633 seconds to outpace seven-time champion Hamilton by 0.345.

Currently, Oscar Piastri leads Lando Norris by 14 points. However, Red Bull star and reigning champion Max Verstappen is threatening to take the title away from McLaren. Having trailed by more than 100 points before the summer break, the Dutchman has cut the gap to Piastri to just 40 points after winning three out of the last four races.

Max Verstappen was fastest in second practice for the Mexico Grand Prix, driving Red Bull’s updated Formula 1 challenger, with championship leader Oscar Piastri down in 12th.

Japanese driver Ryo Hirakawa paid McLaren just over £2.5million to drive Oscar Piastri ’s car at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. The 31-year-old drove for McLaren in FP1 in the Persian Gulf at the end of last year, with the arrangement also including two Testing of Previous Car (TPC) events in preparation.

Oscar Piastri has led the 2025 F1 championship since April. But a poor run of recent form means his place is now under major threat

Oscar Piastri struggled to make the impact he would have hoped during th Mexico GP practice sessions with F1 great Jacques Villeneuve calling out the Aussie for another 'messy' moment. Piastri has endured a tough run in recent weeks with his fifth-place finish in Austin seeing his lead cut.

The race-used helmet, signed by Piastri, sold for an impressive A$107,000 (£52,000) through F1 Authentics, Formula 1’s official memorabilia platform.

Helmut Marko believes that Oscar Piastri is suffering from ‘problems’ as he looks to get his World Championship bid back on track in Mexico City. Both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen have outscored the Australian in each of the last four Grand Prix weekends.