Oscar Piastri said his McLaren is “incredibly difficult to drive” after a disappointing qualifying session at the United States Grand Prix at the Circuit of the Americas in Texas.
Piastri will start the main race from seventh place, as he has done in half the races this year, while championship leader Kimi Antonelli claimed pole position as he tries to wrap up the title this weekend.
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The Australian was bumped up a place on the grid after teammate Lando Norris had his lap time deleted for track limits, but that was little consolation from an underwhelming Saturday.
In his post-qualifying interview, a reporter said to Piastri that “it felt like a bit of a battle today” and the 25-year-old smirked and nodded his head.
The reporter continued, saying: “Talk me through that quali. It looked a bit up-and-down, from my perspective, in terms of your pace.”
“I don’t know if it was ever up,” Piastri replied with a small chuckle.
McLaren sent Piastri out on medium tyres in Q1 – only he and the two Mercedes’ were not on softs – and he struggled to 12th place as Norris was fastest.
He then dangerously flirted with an exit in Q2, sitting in tenth before starting his final lap.
Although, Piastri came home strong to be sixth-fastest as Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc topped the time sheet.
In that session, the Australian was also flagged by FIA stewards for allegedly exceeding the maximum lap time – but they decided to take no further action.
Things did not get much better in Q3 and Piastri said his performance was a “head-scratcher”.
“It’s been tough all weekend,” he said. “There’s just not been any pace so it’s a bit of a bit of head-scratcher.
“I think the car has the potential to be quick but it’s just incredibly difficult to drive. It’s been a challenge from the first lap yesterday until now so it’s not a massive surprise to end up where we are.”
AUSTIN, TEXAS – OCTOBER 24: Oscar Piastri of Australia driving the (81) McLaren MCL40 Mercedes on track during qualifying ahead of the F1 Grand Prix of United States at Circuit of The Americas on October 24, 2026 in Austin, Texas. Chris Graythen/Getty Images/AFPSource: AFP
McLaren introduced several aerodynamic changes to its car for this weekend’s race.
But Piastri said the team had not expected to make significant gains despite the modifications.
“We’ve tried a lot of stuff but nothing’s really seemed to be the fix,” he said.
“We didn’t really expect any of the changes we made to make a massive difference but it’s just been incredibly difficult to get lap time out of the car.
“It’s just one of those weekends at the moment.”