US GP talking points: What now in Piastri vs Norris? What's left for struggling Ferrari?

After fresh twists in the Formula 1 title race in Singapore, a look at some of the key talking points as F1 heads back Stateside for the United States Grand Prix in Austin.

What now for McLaren's papaya rules as title fight hots up?

Amid calls after Singapore for the gloves to come off between the McLaren drivers in their battle for the world title, and with the team's status as 2025 constructors' champions now assured, the dynamics on track between Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris are certainly going to be keenly focused upon in Austin.

The first-lap incident that led to the two papaya cars banging wheels at Marina Bay led to fresh scrutiny around the concept of McLaren's 'papaya rules', the evolving team agreement that outlines the basis on which their drivers race each other freely to ensure fairness and to avoid them making contact on track.

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It was the fact that the cars did make contact and no action was taken from the pit wall to remedy what he felt was an injustice that so irked a frustrated Piastri in the car in the incident's immediate aftermath.

After he was buffeted wide out of Turn Three, Piastri asked the team "are we cool with Lando just barging me out of the way?" He then replied: "that's not fair" once told they were not going to do anything having viewed the incident as being a consequence of Norris clipping Max Verstappen's Red Bull ahead of him first. The stewards had already seen no reason to intervene.

What's less clear is what McLaren would have done had they viewed Norris as being more directly in the wrong? Would they have asked the Briton to drop behind his team-mate to make up for it? And would Norris have argued his case?

It's the spectre of that kind of pit-wall instruction around any further on-track incidents that has led to debate about whether, with the constructors' title now sealed, McLaren's management should take a complete back seat.

Given operating completely even-handily in all scenarios between the drivers is akin to a high-wire act, McLaren have largely managed it well to this point and team principal Andrea Stella said after Singapore that, as ever, they would review what happened, discuss it with both their drivers, see if they were right in their initial conclusion on the incident and "fine tune" any details of the effective code of conduct.

Singapore was the second time in recent races - Monza and the on-track switch following Norris' slow pit stop being the first - that Piastri has questioned the team's decisions in the car. In his interviews after each race, he was characteristically more measured about the respective incidents, but may have returned to being more forthright - as the team say they encourage their drivers to be - behind closed doors in the days after the last race.

What we do know is that McLaren's management have already long ruled out any wholesale change to their approach once the constructors' title was secured.

However, as the stakes only continue to ramp up in the fight for the drivers' crown as the final races count down, the team will increasingly rely on Piastri and Norris more than ever to continue trusting and adhering to the terms of engagement if the team are to avoid any major controversies and, crucially, secure their first title double since 1998.

Is Verstappen really back in the title fight yet?

Although Max Verstappen's winning run was checked by George Russell in Singapore, the Dutchman's second-place finish there still meant it was the third consecutive race in which he had out-pointed the two McLaren drivers.

It leaves the reigning four-time world champion 63 points back on title leader Piastri and 41 points behind second-placed Norris with 174 points left up for grabs.

A title comeback remains a tall order but what Singapore definitely did prove was that the improved performance Red Bull showed in Verstappen's wins in Monza and Baku wasn't completely track-specific and that recent changes to the RB21 - aided further by a new front wing in Singapore - have improved the car overall.

That improved package now takes to the more open and flowing Circuit of the Americas, where aerodynamic performance and top speed are key - requirements that should play to Red Bull's more established strengths anyway.

It's a track that certainly plays to Verstappen's strengths.

He has finished on the last six Austin podiums and won the race for three years consecutively from 2021-2023. He also beat Norris to Sprint victory last year, before ultimately coming out the right side of a controversial stewards call in the main race that penalised his McLaren rival to the tune of five seconds for overtaking off the track and gave the Dutchman third ahead of the Briton.

Knowing that another third place, or even a second like in Singapore, is unlikely to really be enough for his attempted championship comeback this weekend in normal circumstances with races running out, Verstappen will be eager to be back on COTA's top step if he is to really give himself a fighting chance of a fifth successive crown.

What's left for Ferrari in 2025 as unwanted anniversary looms?

What a difference a year makes.

It was during last year's USA-Mexico double header that back-to-back wins for Ferrari turbocharged their late-season bid to pip McLaren to the Constructors' Championship, a battle they ended up taking all the way to the final laps of 2024 in Abu Dhabi.

Twelve months on and, since Charles Leclerc won in Austin and then team-mate Carlos Sainz triumphed a week later in Mexico City, there have been no further Grand Prix victories for F1's most decorated team.

Furthermore, and in an unwanted recent trend, Ferrari have drifted away from podium contention since the summer break, having now gone five races without a top-three finish in their worst sequence since 2021.

There were flashes of early promise in each of the last three race weekends - Monza, Baku and Singapore - but practice pace gave way to underwhelming qualifying results, locking Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton into difficult Sundays in the pack.

Ferrari's struggles have seen them overtaken by Mercedes for second place in the standings - they now trail their Brackley rivals by 27 points after George Russell's win in Singapore - and in danger of being usurped by resurgent Red Bull too, who are now just eight points behind despite still being almost exclusively reliant on Verstappen's points scoring.

A frustrated but seemingly realistic Leclerc said after finishing sixth last time out amid brake for both that he and Hamilton are currently like "passengers to the car", with the rest of the season likely to remain difficult given the SF-25 is no longer being updated given the development focus on 2026.

While it's certainly not out of the question Ferrari can return to the podium here and there over the remainder of the season if they successfully line up all the ducks in one weekend, avoiding a rare winless season is now looking a tough ask.

Will Mercedes' momentum continue?

Ferrari's troubles have been to Mercedes' gain, whose own run of underwhelming results was ended by big points hauls at the last two events.

That has put them back on course to finish second to McLaren in the Constructors' Championship, which has long been their target for 2025 given their Woking rival's domination of the standings.

While Marina Bay victor George Russell clearly continues to drag the maximum out of the W16, it's Kimi Antonelli's return to stronger points-scoring with a fourth in Baku followed by fifth in Singapore which has also been crucial for Mercedes in the constructors' battle.

The secret? A little bit of tough love.

"It seems to have worked to get a little bit of fire up the ass!" quipped Toto Wolff about Antonelli's form since the Mercedes team principal had publicly described the 19-year-old's showing at Monza last month as "underwhelming".

Antonelli's response since on track will certainly please the Austrian, as would an improved showing at the Circuit of the Americas for the team compared to 2024, when they were clearly the fourth-fastest outfit.

Are Sprints set to have a big say in deciding title race?

Austin hosts the year's fourth of six Sprint weekends as the alternative format featuring the additional 100km Saturday race returns for the first time since the Belgian Grand Prix in July.

While the final three Sprint events on next season's schedule have been pushed up the calendar, they feature in half of this season's final six rounds for the third consecutive year.

That makes those upcoming three weekends - Sao Paulo and Qatar being the other two - particularly important in the wider context of the Drivers' Championship given the extra points on offer in the 100km Saturday dash.

With eight points going to the winner of a Sprint, plus the usual 25 points for the Grand Prix's victor, a driver can take home a maximum of 33 points on these weekends, which could prove significant if a key rival endures a particularly bad few days.

The sole one-hour practice session on Fridays before the weekend's first competitive session, Sprint Qualifying, also means drivers and teams have little time to fine-tune set-ups on track before positions on the timesheet really matter, which can make for unexpected results.

The season's first three Sprints have been won by three different drivers and teams - Ferrari's Hamilton (China), McLaren's Norris (Miami) and Red Bull's Verstappen (Belgium) - although championship leader Piastri is actually comfortably the top points scorer in Sprint so far (21 points to Norris' 15) too with second-place finishes in the three Saturday races.

If the Australian is to become champion, then retaining that status until the end of the year could prove crucial.

Sky Sports F1's United States GP schedule

Thursday October 16
8pm: Drivers' Press Conference
11pm: Paddock Uncut

Friday October 17
6pm: United States GP Practice One (practice starts at 6.30pm)*
8.30pm: Team Principals' Press Conference
10pm: United States GP Sprint Qualifying (qualifying starts at 10.30pm*)

Saturday October 18
5pm: United States GP Sprint build-up
6pm: UNITED STATES GP SPRINT
7pm: Ted's Sprint Notebook
9pm: United States GP Qualifying build-up*
10pm: UNITED STATES GP QUALIFYING*
12am (Sunday morning): Ted's Qualifying Notebook*

Sunday October 19
6.30pm: Grand Prix Sunday: United States GP build-up*
8pm: THE UNITED STATES GRAND PRIX*
10pm: Chequered Flag: United States GP reaction
11pm: Ted's Notebook

*also live on Sky Sports Main Event

F1's title race now heads back to North America, with the United States Grand Prix in Austin up first as the Sprint format returns from this Friday, live on Sky Sports F1. Stream Sky Sports with NOW - no contract, cancel anytime