Piastri blames tyres for 'tricky' qualification

Last year he still managed to qualify in second place, now he is only sixth. Oscar Piastri is not entirely satisfied with where he has qualified his car in what he calls a difficult weekend.

"I'd say a solid session is not the word I would use for it, but yes, I just struggled a bit from Q2 onwards just to sort of find the rhythm. Yes, just struggled a bit, especially in the middle sector it seemed like, so not my finest of days, but we'll try and see what we can do tomorrow," said the year-old driver just after the end of qualifying.

What he, and other drivers, were up against was the speed at which the quality of the tyres were deteriorating: "I mean, it is tricky. I think it's tricky for everyone. I think with the tyres and the cars getting quicker and quicker, it is just difficult not to overshoot the tyres," Piastri said. He continued: "I think there's definitely some things with our car that we're trying to work to fix or to make better, let's say, but I mean, when I look at everybody, including the Red Bulls, it's not easy. So I think it's tough for everybody, and I think as the car's getting faster, obviously putting the tyres under more and more stress, so it just gets more and more difficult."

Comparison with 2023

"I think compared to last year, we were pretty clear, second quickest, I would say. This weekend, I would say just second quickest, and, you know, the driver can make the difference, and I didn't today. So, yeah, I think we've got some tight competition, and I expect that to continue tomorrow as well," said the number five driver in the driver standings.