Oscar Piastri says he is lacking comfort and confidence in his McLaren at the United States Grand Prix after qualifying sixth and seeing Max Verstappen take further points out of his championship lead.
Verstappen won the Sprint race from pole as both McLarens were caught in a first corner incident and retired, cutting Piastri’s advantage over the Dutchman to 55 points. Verstappen then took pole for the grand prix by over a quarter of a second from Lando Norris, with Piastri only sixth and in danger of seeing a big swing in points on Sunday.
“Just a tricky session,” Piastri said. “I didn’t really feel terribly comfortable out there, and I think the lap times show it… Still a long race tomorrow, and a lot can happen, so I’ll try and make up some ground.
“[The car is] just a little bit unpredictable. I think it was very tight for the positions ahead of me. Compared to yesterday, it didn’t feel quite as comfortable or as quick, but yes, some things to try and look at and see why it was.
“A lot of corners … make you pay for it if you don’t have that feeling. Yesterday there was a few kind of relatively clear opportunities to try and find, but today, I felt like my laps were maybe not the best laps of my life, but in line with laps I’ve done before. Unfortunately, the lap time didn’t come.”
McLaren had to repair both cars ahead of qualifying but Piastri says he had no concerns about the Sprint incident impeding anything on his side of the garage.
“It was back in one piece, and as far as I’m aware, set up how we intended,” he said. “It all felt normal, just the kind of behavior that we’ve had a couple of times through the season was … it came out to play again.”
Piastri also had time to review the Sprint collision with Nico Hulkenberg that then put him into Norris at Turn 1, and felt he was within his rights to try and cut back to the inside at the first corner.
“I think for me, it’s a racing incident,” he explained. “I was a long way away from the apex, and I think the cars behind were going in pretty deep into the corner. Could I have done something a bit different? Maybe, yes, but that different thing would have been to potentially let two or three cars go by.
“Can’t just drive around the outside of the track and let everyone use up all the space. I think you’re racing when you don’t feel you turn too aggressive.”
