Piastri battles McLaren’s split personality: only P6 in Austin – A few hours after Max Verstappen secured yet another pole position in Austin — clearly allergic to the idea of letting others have a turn, the mood in the McLaren camp was far less triumphant. While Lando Norris impressed with a front-row start, Oscar Piastri, the World Championship leader, found himself languishing in sixth place. For someone driving the car that conquered the 2025 season in the constructors’ title, it wasn’t exactly the sort of qualifying session that inspires championship-winning confidence.
The Australian wasn’t seething, but his assessment was blunt: “The car was a bit unpredictable. I never felt completely comfortable,” he admitted, trying not to sound like someone forced to wrestle a wild kangaroo on four wheels with wings and an aero package. The phrase ‘a bit unpredictable’ has become something of a McLaren euphemism this latter part of the Formula 1 season, usually code for ‘we have no idea what it’ll do next’.
Windy Austin and the sprint hangover
Saturday’s qualifying took place in gusty Texas conditions, which exacerbated the MCL39’s erratic behaviour. But the trouble had already begun hours earlier during the sprint, when both Norris and Piastri collided at Turn 1, effectively turning McLaren’s day into a demolition derby.
The orange garage spent the afternoon looking like an episode of Extreme Makeover: Carbon Fibre Edition, as mechanics rebuilt both cars in time for qualifying.
Despite the chaos, Piastri insisted he wasn’t to blame for his lack of pace.
“The car was completely restored, and the setup was as intended,” he said. “It just behaved the way it sometimes does.” In other words, it had all the personality of a cat in a thunderstorm: beautiful and fast, but only on its own terms.
He was 0.283 seconds slower than Norris in Q3, but this felt more psychological than mechanical.
“My last lap was OK,” Piastri noted, “but if you lack confidence, it’s difficult to find those extra tenths.”
After all, confidence is the invisible horsepower that every driver needs, and right now, his seems to be stuck in the pits.
Stella’s measured diagnosis
McLaren boss Andrea Stella, ever the voice of calm amid the chaos, suggested that the windy conditions and lack of track time in the morning were to blame.
“It simply took Oscar longer to find his rhythm,” he told Sky Sports F1. “He didn’t complain about the car, apart from the bumps, which are always a feature here in Austin.”
The word ‘rhythm’ cropped up often in McLaren’s post-session chatter. It’s engineer-speak for ‘we hope tomorrow goes better’.
Stella hinted that confidence and rhythm were closely linked to Piastri’s difficulties: “The gusty wind was the main problem.”
Rivals spotted the wobble
Other figures in the paddock were quick to notice the slight crack in the usually composed Australian’s armour. Red Bull’s Helmut Marko, never one to miss an opportunity to throw a grenade, observed, “He seems unsettled by the current situation.”
Coming from a man who approaches driver psychology with all the delicacy of a sledgehammer, this was not exactly comforting.
Meanwhile, Timo Glock, a former F1 driver now working as a Sky Germany TV analyst, speculated that something deeper might be going on.
“Either he’s not feeling well, or he just doesn’t have the same feel for the car or tyres as before,” Glock mused. “Or there’s just too much mental cinema going on.”
This phrase conjures the image of Piastri replaying the sprint crash on a loop in his head, complete with popcorn.
The blame game from the sprint
Glock wasn’t the only one dissecting the carnage of the sprint. Wearing his usual blend of empathy and forensic judgement, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff apportioned “30 percent” of the blame to Piastri and “70 percent” to Nico Hülkenberg. It was diplomatic, but still enough to keep Oscar’s share of the blame alive in Sunday’s headlines. Regardless, the psychological residue from that first-lap collision was hard to ignore. A championship-leading driver doesn’t like being reminded that he is human, and in the highly efficient McLaren setup, where Norris’s confidence seems to grow with every session, Piastri’s unease stands out even more.
Between wind gusts, bumps and a slightly bruised ego, Austin became more of a mental endurance test than a confidence-building weekend. Nevertheless, Piastri has repeatedly demonstrated that on Sundays, he often finds something extra. Sixth on the grid isn’t disastrous, especially when considering the oft opportunities that appear at turn 1, just an inconvenient reminder that even the most serene championship campaigns can falter when the car malfunctions.
As the lights go out on Sunday, the question isn’t whether Piastri has the pace, but whether he can trust his McLaren to behave for long enough to utilise it. And if it doesn’t, well, at least there will be plenty for the jury to debate on Monday morning.
MORE F1 NEWS – Senior paddock individual reveals McLaren “consequences” for Norris
Whilst Lando Norris did nothing wrong at the Singapore Grand Prix when passing his team mate into turn three just after the start according to the stewards, McLaren have taken a different point of view and punished their driver.
Piastri looked to make an opportunistic move on Max Verstappen around the outside, opening up space for his team mate on the inside of turn two. Realising the danger, the Australian moved slightly across to counter Norris attack, but was too late. Yet his moved compromised Lando’s line into turn three forcing him across the kerb which made his braking problematic, meaning he touched the Red Bull ahead which bounced him right and he touched Piastri’s car.
The newly crowned constructors’ champions have made a big deal this season about their “papaya rules” which govern the on track combat between their drivers. Yet despite this micro managing of the racing allowed, Zak Brown and Andrea Stella repeat their mantra that their drivers are free to race…READ MORE ON THIS STORY
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