Piastri recovered to put in a strong performance in qualifying – but failed to improve on his final run, and was leapfrogged 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 seemed unflappable, and there is a growing belief that the pressure of going for the championship may be getting to Piastri, who is in only his third season in F1.

“Just feels like things are not flowing that easily at the moment, you know?” the 24-year-old said.

“I had pretty good confidence in the car yesterday. Today felt like it was a bit trickier for everybody and just struggled to get the most out of the car.

“I’ve still got the belief that I can go out and win races and win the championship but, you know, obviously things are not coming as easy as I’d like them to.”

Asked about how he can limit further damage to his title hopes in the race, Piastri said: “Just try and pass a few cars for you, that’s all I can try and do, just try and capitalise on any opportunities that come up.

“There’s also a bit of a question on what tyres to use because, you know, the soft has not looked great, it’s not been good in qualifying and it’s not looked great in the sprint either.

“So I think there’s a bit of a question mark on that too and maybe that’ll give me some opportunities.”

Norris, who was challenged hard for the sprint victory by Antonelli, expects a similarly tough battle with the 19-year-old Italian in the grand prix.

Norris said: “I learned (in the sprint) that they’re pretty quick. And I learned that Kimi pushes all the way to the very end.

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

Antonelli, who is in his maiden season and has a best result so far of third place, said he hoped the expected cooler conditions would play into the hands of Mercedes.

“The pace this morning was really strong,” he said. “It was also quite cold and tomorrow should be kind of the same. So maybe that can help us a little bit more.

“But, you know, running in dirty air is never easy. Hopefully, we can have a strong pace and put pressure on them and hopefully we can fight for the win.”