Piastri disappointed with Miami GP qualifying: 'I peaked a bit early'

Oscar Piastri cut a disappointed figure after qualifying in fourth place for the Miami Grand Prix, as he blamed himself for mistakes on his final flying laps around the Miami International Autodrome.

There is no denying that McLaren have the fastest overall package this weekend. Piastri demonstrated as such by topping the one and only practice session on Friday, ahead of Charles Leclerc's Ferrari and the Red Bull of Max Verstappen.

The Australian driver was pipped to pole position for the sprint by rookie Kimi Andrea Antonelli of Mercedes, but managed to get ahead of the teenager into the first braking zone of the race. Unfortunate timing of a late Safety Car robbed Piastri of the sprint victory however, which went to his teammate Lando Norris.

The McLaren driver had been hoping to place his MCL39 on pole position for the Grand Prix, but ultimately fell short as he made several mistakes on his Q3 runs around the temporary street circuit.

That's The Price You Pay

Piastri had actually set a faster lap time during the second part of qualifying than he managed in Q3; his Q2 time of a 1:26.269 would have put him on the front row of the grid for the race.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 immediately after the session, the 24-year-old blamed a lack of rhythm behind the wheel for his P4 result in qualifying.

He said: "I fell out of the rhythm a little bit. My best lap of qualifying was the first lap of Q2. I peaked a bit early.

"I couldn't get into the rhythm in Q3. The car was great and deserved more but both laps in Q3 were quite scruffy. That's the price you pay," added Piastri.

The Australian doesn't have much hope for the Grand Prix itself, noting just how tight the field is and how difficult it can be to overtake at the Miami International Autodrome.

• Read Also: Verstappen beats Norris and Antonelli to blistering Miami GP pole

He continued: "It's going to be tight at the front. We saw how close qualifying was and it's going to be tough to make progress.

"I think you can, and the weather is not that straightforward, so I think we can make progress but it will be difficult.

"I will still try to get as many points as I can. It's far too early to start thinking about the championship, so I will try to make up as many places as I can but just to get a good result tomorrow over anything else," Piastri concluded.

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