Sao Paulo Grand Prix: Lando Norris says he ‘drives well’ and ‘minimizes weaknesses’

Piastri recovered to produce a strong performance in qualifying – but failed to improve on his recent form, and was outpaced not only by Norris, but also by Antonelli and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.

His form in recent races is in stark contrast to earlier in the season, when he looked calm, and there is a growing belief that the pressure of the championship quest could get to Piastri, who is in only his third season in Formula 1.

“I feel like things aren’t flowing that easily right now, you know?” said the 24-year-old.

“I had good confidence in the car yesterday. Today I felt like it was a little bit harder for everyone and I struggled to get the most out of the car.

“I still believe in my ability to go out and win races and win the championship, but obviously things are not coming as easily as I would like.”

Asked how to limit further damage to his title hopes in the race, Piastri said: “Just try to pass some cars to you, that’s all I can try and do, just try to take advantage of any opportunities you get.

“There’s also some questions about which tires to use, because, you know, the soft tires didn’t look great, they didn’t look good in qualifying and they didn’t look great in the sprints either.

“So I think there’s some question mark about that as well and maybe that will give me some opportunities.”

Norris, who was strongly challenged to win the Sprint by Antonelli, expects a similarly tough battle with the 19-year-old Italian in the Grand Prix.

“I learned (in the sprint) that they are very fast,” Norris said. “I learned that Kimi pushes to the end.

“So, in some ways I’m looking forward to it, and in some ways I’m not looking forward to it. I think it’s going to be a big challenge tomorrow. We’ll have to see what the weather does again, but so far it’s been a clean weekend. So, I hope they don’t mess it up.”

Antonelli, who is in his first season and achieved his best result so far by finishing third, said he hopes the expected cold conditions will favor Mercedes.

“The pace this morning was really strong,” he said. “It was pretty cold and it should be similar tomorrow. So maybe that will help us a little bit more.”

“But, as you know, running in dirty air is not easy at all. Hopefully we can set a strong pace and put pressure on them and hopefully we can fight for the win.”