Piastri has no answer for poor F1 Spanish GP qualifying

McLaren’s Oscar Piastri says he has no answers for his lack of pace in qualifying for Formula 1’s Spanish Grand Prix, saying his Q3 off didn’t cost him many places.

Piastri didn’t set a time in the top 10 shootout after going wide in Turn 12, in sharp contrast with team-mate Lando Norris, who claimed his second career pole.

With the pair having been finely poised in qualifying this year, Piastri would have been expected to join Norris at the front, but the Australian admitted his off barely made a difference to his position as he was well off the pace anyway.

“It wasn’t looking amazing, it certainly wasn’t going to be pole,” he conceded. “I think it would have been maybe P7 or P8 at best, so I don’t feel like I throw away that much of a result, honestly.”

Piastri says he has no answers for his off-colour weekend so far, which comes at a circuit that suits the McLaren MCL38.

“I didn’t have the pace we need to understand why that’s been the case, it’s just not been very natural all weekend.

“I think the last four or five races, from the first lap of practice I’ve been able to be comfortable with the car and then push on from there – and this weekend it’s just not been coming. It has just not clicked for some reason.”

Piastri says he has not had one clear weakness compared to Norris at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, but says the corners where he was shipping time to the Briton kept changing.

“It’s been a little bit random, which I think for me is kind of an indicator that I’ve not had much confidence with the car,” he explained.

“If it’s one or two corners consistently, then you can kind of go: ‘Okay, he’s doing a better job’. But one session it’s been one corner, the next one has been somewhere else.

“The last sector has been a little bit difficult, but never for the same reason. It’s just been very, very tough for me to find the limit.”

Asked to explain his T12 off, he replied: “My lap wasn’t going to be anything amazing at that point, so I knew I didn’t really have anything to lose, and just got a massive push of understeer.

“I don’t know if I tried to carry a bit too much speed or had a gust of wind, but it has not really been a very predictable day in terms of what the car’s going to do.”