So far, the Grand Prix weekend at the Circuit of the Americas (COTA) has been one to forget for Oscar Piastri. After failing to make it past the first turn in Saturday’s sprint race, the championship leader qualified a few hours later in a disappointing sixth starting position. His main rivals in the title race, Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, will meanwhile start the race from the front row. “The whole weekend has been a struggle for me,” Piastri laments.
Oscar Piastri still leads the drivers’ championship, but he needs to be cautious in Austin with close competitors Lando Norris and Max Verstappen. While the Dutchman claimed the coveted pole position, Norris also starts from the front row. Piastri, meanwhile, did not make it past the sixth starting spot, and was more than half a second slower than pole-sitter Verstappen.
‘The whole weekend is a struggle’
For Piastri, the entire weekend in Austin has not been smooth sailing so far. During the sprint race, the shortened race for the Australian was over in the opening bend. A misjudged overtaking attempt on his teammate led to a pile-up, which also ended Norris’s sprint race in the first round. “I think it’s been a struggle for me here (at COTA) all weekend,” the championship leader sighs after qualifying.
“I don’t feel like I made any major mistakes in terms of driving. It just didn’t click,” Piastri continues. “I just didn’t feel really comfortable in the car, and I think that’s the story of this weekend. However, I don’t think that’s been the story of the past few weekends.” When asked if there is a specific part of the Circuit of the Americas where the Australian is struggling, the McLaren driver replies: “I’m not sure, I haven’t seen it yet, but I think I’m just struggling a bit in several places. If you don’t have confidence in the car on a circuit like this, with so many turns, you can lose a lot of time or a little time in many turns. And that’s how it felt.”
