Oscar Piastri expects a “tight battle for the podium with Ferrari” in Austin: “They are very fast”. Oscar Piastri's comment on the 5th place he achieved in the Austin qualifying and prospects for USA GP.

Austin Qualifying, Oscar Piastri far from Lando Norris
There are days when Oscar Piastri dazzles and surprises the crowd with his talent and aggression, and others when he struggles to perform at his level. Unfortunately for the Australian, yesterday was one of those “off” days: in Austin, he will start from fifth position after a mediocre qualifying session in which teammate Lando Norris outpaced him by over six-tenths.

For Oscar Piastri, this has been a very negative weekend so far, further tarnished by a 16th place finish in the Sprint Qualifying. Tonight, #81 has a chance to turn the weekend around: relying on more clean air and McLaren’s race pace, the podium is an achievable goal. But it will be a tight five-way battle.

Oscar Piastri’s comments at the end of the Qualifying session for the United States GP
“I struggled for most of the session, to be honest. I didn’t feel comfortable with the car, but fifth position is good for the GP. I believe the race pace has been quite encouraging, and with a bit more clean air, we’ll see what we can do,” commented the Australian at the 5.513-kilometre Circuit of The Americas in Austin – “Reaching the podium is possible, but it won’t be straightforward for #81: “It’s hard to know for sure because the Ferrari cars looked very fast on Saturday. Max also seemed very quick, so I expect quite a tight battle at the front. But if I can be involved, I’ll fight.” – the McLaren driver concluded.