Oscar Piastri has insisted he is “not concerned about the pace” as he admitted poor execution denied him a chance of pole position for Formula 1‘s Miami Grand Prix.
Piastri seemed to have the edge over his rivals heading into Q3 as he led the second qualifying segment with a two-tenth margin to McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.
However, the Australian rued errors on both his attempts in the all-important last session as he posted a time slower than his Q2 benchmark to end up in fourth place.
“This afternoon was nothing to do with luck. It was just not the level of execution I needed to have in Q3,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week.
“It’s never a great qualifying session when your best lap is the first lap of Q2, so there was quite a bit left on the table.
“Just a few mistakes on both laps in Q3 which were crucial.”
Having been quickest through the final sector, Piastri conceded his entire 0.181-second gap to Max Verstappen’s pole position time was lost through the opening turn.
“I mean, in both laps of Q3 I struggled in Turn 1,” he explained.
“I think I lost pretty much two tenths in Turn 1, and then, you know, on my first lap of Q3 kind of gained it back a bit through the rest of sector one and then fell away in the middle.
“On the last one I eventually recovered some of it at the end. It wasn’t enough.
“So, it was nothing to do with preparation, it was just execution of the driving, unfortunately.”
Piastri ‘knows where it went wrong’ in Miami
Piastri dismissed that he has been resorted to scratching his head over his own speed, despite McLaren missing out on top spot in both weekend qualifying sessions.
“I think for me, I’m not concerned about the pace I had today,” he added. “It was just that, unfortunately, I didn’t use it when I really needed it.
“And I think after [the] lap in Q2, I just never quite got back into the same rhythm. And that was kind of the difference at the end.
“So, some things to look at, for sure, but I know exactly where it went wrong, which is frustrating, but better than being asking some questions about it.”
Piastri not expecting seamless race
However, the five-time F1 winner has revealed that he isn’t expecting progress in the race to be straightforward as he bids to protect his nine-point championship lead.
Asked whether he was confident in McLaren’s race pace, Piastri replied: “It’s hard to say honestly, the tyres behaved a bit better than most people expected, I would say.
“Compared to last year, if it’s hot, I think that might help us out a little bit, but, you know, qualifying is still going to make a massive difference for tomorrow.
“So, it’s not going to be easy to make progress, but I’m confident on the car that we’ve got.”
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