Oscar Piastri admits he’s at a loss to explain the difference between him and teammate Lando Norris in qualifying for the Mexico City Grand Prix.
Norris put in a spectacular final lap in Q3 to take pole position, beating the two Ferrari drivers who posed the most threat in qualifying. Piastri was only eighth in qualifying and will be promoted to seventh due to Carlos Sainz’s grid penalty, but he says the 0.6 second gap to Norris is confusing.
“Everything feels normal, but the gap was huge in that session,” Piastri said. “It was very good all weekend. There were a few things where I felt like I could have cleaned things up and made some easy progress, but not all of them. I think I did a decent job in qualifying and the car felt decent. It’s a bit of a mystery why I didn’t get enough lap times.”
“Ultimately I’m just a little frustrated with the way the session ended. There’s a lot to worry about, but ultimately it’s a tough place to be that far away when you feel like you’ve done a decent job. So that’s my biggest concern at the moment.”
Piastri also struggled to match Norris in Austin last weekend, but not to the same extent, but he feels there are some similarities between the two races.
“In some ways it’s not that dissimilar, but what was a little surprising here was that the gap was pretty much the same from session to session,” he said. “I feel like I’ve run decent laps all weekend, but everything seems to be four or five tenths off, so that’s obviously not a good sign. But some of the things that were difficult in Austin are proving to be difficult here as well.”
“There were some things that were obvious from Austin, but there were some things that were a little different and different that were obvious, and this weekend was a little different again. I haven’t really changed the way I ride since the season started. Even a few races ago when I was feeling good, it’s hard to pinpoint where I’m lacking in lap time this weekend, but I’m sure you’ll find it.”
Piastri, who will start seventh, two places behind Max Verstappen, said he would be aggressive at the start to minimize damage in the championship fight.
“I’ll do my best,” he said. “It’s my longest run of the year so I’m going to try to improve my position there. If I can free up the pace in the car, I’m going to have a good time. I’ll just try to free up that.”