Oscar Piastri Baffled by Mexico F1 Qualifying Pace Deficit

Oscar Piastri will start the 2025 Mexico City GP from seventh, not eighth, due to Carlos Sainz’s penalty. However, this offers little solace as his fastest Q3 lap was 0.588s slower than McLaren teammate Lando Norris, a gap Piastri describes as a 'mystery' that has persisted throughout the weekend.

Why it matters:

• Piastri's struggle to match Norris's pace, both in Mexico and previously in Austin, raises questions about his consistency and adaptation to different circuit characteristics, which is crucial for a young driver aiming to establish himself as a top contender in F1.
• The significant gap to his teammate, despite the car reportedly feeling 'reasonable,' indicates a deeper issue that McLaren needs to address to ensure both their drivers can maximize the car's potential.
• Starting seventh on a track notorious for difficult overtakes and first-corner incidents (carambolage) puts Piastri in a challenging position to make up ground during the race.

The details:

• Significant Gap: Piastri's Q3 lap was 0.588s slower than Norris, a substantial deficit that has been consistent across all sessions in Mexico. Team Principal Andrea Stella attributed this to "milliseconds in every corner."
• Austin Struggles Echoed: Piastri noted that some of the difficulties he faced in the US GP at Circuit of The Americas are proving to be similar in Mexico, contrary to his initial confidence that the Austin issues were circuit-specific.
  • He described the situation as "in some ways, not too dissimilar" to Austin.
• Qualifying Scramble: Piastri barely made it into Q3, having to use used tires for his first Q2 run and only securing P10, before needing a strong final push lap to move up to P7, just 0.079s ahead of Yuki Tsunoda who was eliminated.
• Driving Style Unchanged: Piastri emphasized that he hasn't altered his driving style since the start of the season or from races where he performed strongly, making the current lack of pace particularly perplexing.

What's next:

• McLaren will need to conduct a thorough analysis to understand the underlying reasons for Piastri's struggle to extract pace, especially in comparison to his teammate, across different tracks. Identifying and resolving this "mystery" is crucial for Piastri to regain his strong form.
• Piastri's starting position of seventh will require a disciplined and strategic race from him to avoid first-corner incidents and make progress on a track where overtaking is notoriously difficult. His ability to manage tire degradation and capitalize on any opportunities will be key to a strong points finish.