Oscar Piastri Faces Challenge After Fifth Place in Las Vegas Qualifying

Las Vegas, Nevada – Oscar Piastri qualified fifth for the Las Vegas Grand Prix, expressing frustration over his performance after the session. The McLaren driver stated, “things seem to not be going the way I want at the moment” following a challenging qualifying round.

Despite showing good pace in earlier segments, Piastri’s final run in Q3 was hindered by a yellow flag caused by Charles Leclerc‘s incident, effectively ending his hopes for a better grid position. “I got a yellow flag and that was pretty much the end of it. We were quick, there’s no doubt about that,” Piastri explained.

The Australian driver, 24, acknowledged that his qualifying result was a tough pill to swallow as he had hoped for a top finish. Over the past five races, he has not finished on the podium, further complicating his title chase.

“It’s certainly not been the case for… in that session, yes, things didn’t go my way, but there’s been plenty of things that could have gone my way previously,” he said, reflecting on the unpredictability of the season.

Piastri will target improvement during the race as he trails his teammate and championship leader Lando Norris by 24 points. “Yes, yes it does,” he answered when asked if his fifth-place finish complicates his championship efforts. “But it’s Las Vegas after all, so a lot could happen.”

The qualifying session featured extreme conditions with standing water and shifting grip on the iconic Strip. Drivers like Lewis Hamilton experienced early exits, while Piastri narrowly avoided a disaster when Isack Hadjar lost control during the yellow flag incident.

“As soon as you put one tread block into the water it was literally like being on ice,” Piastri described the conditions. He remained optimistic, noting that McLaren’s pace had been strong in both wet and dry conditions.

“I think we’ve got good pace and hopefully we can use that to go forwards tomorrow,” he stated, looking ahead to the race. The contest is expected to be held in dry conditions, contrasting with the wet qualifying round.

Piastri’s team principal Andrea Stella shared support, saying Piastri had top-three potential before the yellow flag interrupted his final lap. “It’s a good position for us, and we will try and do our best and finish on the podium with both cars,” Stella noted.