McLaren’s Oscar Piastri explained why the team decided against pitting for new tyres amid his Q1 exit during qualifying for the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
A track limits breach on his penultimate push-lap in Saturday’s initial qualifying segment forced Piastri’s hand to attack once more.
Rather than play it safe for a new set of soft tyres, the McLaren driver went for a second run on scrubbed softs, which proved costly.
Piastri just didn’t have the pace and is set to line up 17th on Sunday’s grid for the Mexico GP.
“I mean, we didn’t have to [keep those tyres], but it felt like a very sensible decision to do that,” Piastri said.
“I think we just had very, very little grip on that second lap, which was a shame, but I mean, I shouldn’t have even needed it.
“So, obviously [it’s] frustrating, because the pace looked very strong and I felt comfortable.
“I just tried a bit too much in Turn 12 and it bit me hard.”
Piastri’s penultimate run saw him drift wide at Turn 12 and skip over the kerbs, triggering a lap deletion.
Even so, the time loss was significant enough from that error that Piastri had to go one for his ill-fated final attempt.
“I lost pretty much a second, so it would have been comfortable [without the error],” he rued.
After leading the way in FP3, Piastri couldn’t help but be downbeat after his early qualifying exit, saying, “FP3 was very strong, even FP2.
“FP1 I struggled a bit, but FP2 I think we made some really good changes and I was comfortable.
“FP3 was very comfortable as well, and even in qualifying, I felt good.
“Just a very silly mistake, trying a bit too hard in Q1, so that was it.
“I mean, at least I know where it all went wrong, but it still is painful to be stood here.”
Oscar Piastri taking ‘inspiration’ from McLaren team-mate Lando Norris
Piastri can take solace from the experience endured by his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in the 2023 Mexico City GP.
A similarly poor run in qualifying for Norris last year saw him start 17th on the grid, before charging through to fifth.
With a stronger package in 2024, Piastri is targeting a similar fight back on Sunday.
“[I’ll] try and get back into the points, and strongly into the points, hopefully,” Piastri said post-qualifying.
“We’re trying to draw inspiration from Lando’s race last year and see what we can do.
“I think it’s going to be tough, because the field looks reasonably tight, I would say.
“But I think we’ve got some pace on board this weekend, so we’ll try and use it to get through.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 in final F1 Mexico GP practice
