McLaren Driver Oscar Piastri Disappointed with Qualifying Performance

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was left disappointed after a less-than-perfect qualifying performance at the Miami International Autodrome, where he could only manage fourth place on the grid for Sunday’s race. The Australian admitted that two driving errors cost him a chance to challenge for pole position.

McLaren’s Pace Proves Promising Despite Qualifying Woes

Piastri and his teammate Lando Norris looked strong contenders for pole, but both drivers failed to execute perfect laps, allowing four-time world champion Max Verstappen to secure a third pole position of the 2025 season. While Norris felt he lost time at the final corner, Piastri blamed mistakes at the start of his lap that prevented him from improving on his Q2 best time.

It was just not the level of execution I needed to have in Q3,” Piastri said. “It’s never a great qualifying session when your best lap is the first lap of Q2.” He admitted there was potential left untapped, with mistakes on both laps in Q3 costing him valuable time at Turn 1.

Despite the disappointing qualifying result, Piastri remains confident about his car’s pace and believes it had enough speed to challenge for pole. However, he acknowledged that he didn’t execute his driving as well as he should have on Saturday. “I think this weekend it has had enough pace to be on pole, it’s just that I’ve not done as good a job as I should have,” he explained.

Piastri will line up behind polesitter Verstappen and Norris on Sunday, with the Mercedes of Andrea Kimi Antonelli alongside him. He acknowledged that moving up the grid won’t be easy in what is expected to be a one-stop race. “I think if it’s hot that might help us out a little bit, but qualifying is still going to make a massive difference for tomorrow so it’s not going to be easy to make progress,” he concluded.