Oscar Piastri warns McLaren faces an “uphill” battle after the shocking elimination of track restrictions

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has warned his team that the United States Grand Prix sprint race “will be tough” as he dropped out of SQ1 for exceeding track limits, securing 16th place on the grid. He also admitted that rival teams looked stronger heading into the weekend in Austin, despite the team's upgrade package to the MCL38 F1 car.

Piastri's fastest lap time was canceled after he exceeded track limits at Turn 19 in the final sector of the Circuit of the Americas, leading to a disastrous start to Saturday's sprint. Unfortunately for McLaren, the team's woes may have been multiplied as Lando Norris also struggled with the car's performance, eventually securing fourth place behind Max Verstappen, George Russell and Charles Leclerc in the same order.

Piastri's hint of stronger rivals could be aimed at Mercedes and Red Bull, as both teams struggled with McLaren's strong MCL38 before last autumn's break. Speaking about the unsuccessful qualifying run at COTA, he told the media:

“I mean most of the lap was good, we made a few mistakes in the last sector, but obviously in the second to last corner I just tried to go a little too fast and that was the result.”

“It’s a shame, but the good thing about sprint weekends is that we still have a chance (on Saturday).”

“The car feels okay, but it's maybe not quite as strong as in the last few races, but I don't think that's because we're weaker.”

“I think the others seem like they might be a little stronger, so we'll see.”

“We're still very much in the fight, so it's certainly not like we're miles behind, but it's perhaps a little more difficult for us than some other weekends.”

“It will be difficult (to get points) from where we are, but we will try and see what we can do.”

His teammate Norris, who is only 52 points behind Verstappen in the drivers' championship, faces a tough challenge in the sprint race. To strengthen his championship hopes, he must not only catch up with the Dutchman, but also overtake him. Speaking to the media after sprint qualifying, the McLaren driver said:

“(It was) not very good. P4, so not a great day. To be honest, I struggled with balance and setup all day.”

“In a way I'm happy with P4 because I felt like it could have been a lot worse, but my lap was shocking. Not a terrible day and it could have been worse but better. But I accept it.”

Norris pointed out that the impact of the new upgrade package was not noticeable on his MCL38, pointing out that “it's not a new package, it's pretty much the same.”

When asked about his expectations for racing speed in the sprint, the British rider admitted:

“No not really.

“I hope to move forward, that's my plan, but as far as speed goes, I think we're where we should be today, so my plan is to move forward, but I have no idea how much we can.”