Oscar Piastri believes Red Bull have made significant progress in recent races, describing Max Verstappen's team as the most consistently competitive on the grid. The McLaren driver also highlighted Ferrari's impressive cornering performance, suggesting that the Italian outfit continues to lose valuable time on the straights.
Speaking to the media ahead of the United States Grand Prix, Piastri assessed the recent changes in the competitive order, pointing to Red Bull's improvements over the last three race weekends. The Australian believes the upgrades introduced in Baku played an important role in the team's resurgence, with Verstappen subsequently securing two consecutive victories.
"I think Red Bull definitely took a pretty big step forwards over the last triple header. I think whatever upgrades they put on their car in Baku were very strong. They had a double podium there and won the next two races with Max."
Piastri highlights Ferrari's strengths despite Red Bull resurgence
Piastri also discussed Ferrari's performance in Singapore, explaining that the Italian team's competitiveness came as little surprise to McLaren. According to the Australian, Ferrari have consistently demonstrated impressive pace through the corners this season, although their straight-line performance remains a significant weakness.
"I think it wasn't a surprise that Ferrari were very strong in Singapore. I think on the data analysis they're always the quickest or, well, either joint quickest or outright quickest in basically every corner this year, but they lose on all the straights, whether that's from drag, from power, I don't know."
Despite Ferrari's strengths, Piastri acknowledged that the team have not always delivered the performances McLaren expected at circuits that appeared to suit their car. Singapore was another example of Ferrari's strong potential, while Red Bull also demonstrated an advantage over McLaren.
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"You would expect, or we certainly expected Ferrari to be the benchmark in Singapore, but we've expected them to be the benchmark at other circuits, and it's not turned out to be the case. So I think they're very strong. I think clearly the Red Bull was very strong, both stronger than us for sure."
The McLaren driver concluded that Red Bull have established themselves as the most consistently competitive team in recent weeks, although he expects the balance of performance to continue changing depending on the demands of each circuit.
"I think over the last few weeks, Red Bull's definitely become the most consistently quick car, but I think each weekend the challenges are kind of rotating."