Oscar Piastri struggled throughout the F1 US GP Qualifying session, only just making it through Q1 and Q2. Despite his efforts, he could only manage P6 on his final lap in Q3, falling short of putting in a truly competitive time.
Unable to feel confident in the car
The weekend so far has been one of Piastri’s most challenging of the 2025 season. He struggled to match teammate Lando Norris’ pace during Friday’s sessions and managed only P3 in Sprint Race Qualifying, which saw him starting on the second row.
Things went from bad to worse during the Sprint Race, as both McLarens were taken out at Turn 1. Piastri’s struggles carried into the main F1 US GP Qualifying session, where he could only manage P6, while teammate Norris narrowly missed out on pole, claiming P2 behind Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.
Speaking after the F1 US GP Qualifying session, Piastri noted that he knew there were opportunities yesterday, but was aware that the laps he put together today were also not the best laps he has completed either.
“Yeah, it has been. I think today, just getting in the rhythm with the car. It’s a track that is tough and you need a lot of confidence on, and there’s a lot of corners to make you pay for it if you don’t have that feeling.”
“I feel like yesterday there was a few relatively clear opportunities to try and find, but today I felt like my laps were, maybe not the best laps of my life, but in line with the laps I’ve done before, just unfortunately the lap time didn’t come.”
Uncomfortable in the car all weekend
During the Sprint Race, a first-lap collision at Turn 1 involving Nico Hülkenberg, Piastri and Norris ended the session prematurely for all three drivers. Piastri suffered front suspension damage in the incident, which the team had to repair between the Sprint Race and the main Qualifying session.
When asked about the car’s performance in Qualifying, Piastri explained that, to his knowledge, the setup had been as intended, but something simply wasn’t working for him this weekend.
“No, I don’t think so. The car was back in one piece and as far as I’m aware, we set up how we intended. It all felt normal, just the kind of behaviour that we’ve had a couple of times through the season.”
“It came out to play again today, so I don’t think it was necessarily from that.”
Piastri added that he doesn’t feel he has made any major mistakes in his driving, but rather hasn’t felt entirely comfortable in the car this weekend. He explained that on a circuit like COTA, with so many corners, even small lapses in confidence can quickly add up to significant time loss.
“I don’t feel like I’ve made any major mistakes from the driving side of things. It’s just not clicked. It’s not been so much of overdriving.”
“I haven’t felt comfortable with the car really, so I think that’s been the story of this weekend, but I don’t think it’s been the story of the last few weeks.”
“I’m not sure. I haven’t seen yet, but I think it’s just a little bit in a lot of places really. When you don’t have the confidence in the car around a place like this with so many corners, you can lose a lot of time, or a little bit of time in a lot of corners.”
Looking ahead to tomorrow’s race
Starting tomorrow’s F1 US GP race from P6, Piastri knows he has work to do to regain the positions he lost this weekend. He stated that he will seize the opportunities that arise while carefully assessing the risks as they occur.
“Try and have a good start and see how many places we can make it. That’s the best thing I can try and do.”
“I’ve started in that position before in my career, but just try and do what I do every time, which is take the opportunities that are there, assess the risks that there are, and ultimately just try and do my best. That’s all I can do.”
