Piastri Puzzled by Early Qualifying Exit in Mexico

Oscar Piastri found himself unexpectedly out of sorts during the Mexico GP qualifying, an early exit leaving him puzzled. The Australian driver will start 13th on the grid at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a stark contrast to his McLaren teammate Lando Norris who secured sixth place.

Initially, Piastri seemed poised for a strong showing, having led the McLaren charge in the first session by finishing fourth. However, a slip-up at Turn 7 during Q2 forced him to abandon his first attempt on fresh tyres, leaving him on the back foot. His subsequent lap improved only slightly from his Q1 best, landing him outside the top 10.

"I had no grip in Q2 for some reason," Piastri admitted, still baffled by the sudden change in performance. "Things were pretty comfortable until then, so it's a bit strange."

Piastri noted that while minor adjustments were made to his car, they shouldn't have resulted in such a drastic shift. "The balance at the start of qualifying was completely different by the last run in Q2," he reiterated. "We made a couple of very small tweaks, but nothing that would explain why it was so different."

With overtaking being notoriously challenging in Mexico, Piastri is hopeful that the lengthy 800-plus metre run to Turn 1 can provide an opportunity to claw back positions. "We’ll see what we can do off the line and hopefully make up some spots," he added, looking ahead to the race.