Oscar Piastri's Las Vegas Grand Prix was a race to forget for the McLaren driver whose efforts in Sin City were undermined by tyre graining, a widespread issue for competitors in Nevada last weekend.
From the outset, progress was hard to come by for the 23-year-old, who launched his race from P8 on the grid and gained just a single position by the time the checkered flag fell – a result the McLaren driver labeled as “pretty poor”.
Heading into the weekend, Piastri knew the race would be tough, but even he didn’t anticipate the extent of the struggle.
The 23-year-old found himself battling more than just the competition as graining – the formation of rubber debris on the surface of the tyres – proved a persistent thorn in his side.
“Qualifying, we’ve got some ideas why it didn’t really come to us in Q3. But the race, I think, was more difficult than we expected,” he admitted, quoted by Speedcafe.
“Especially on my side, it was a much, much more difficult race with the tyres than I expected going in. I mean, we knew it would be tough with graining, but the graining was a lot, lot worse than I feared.
“That part was quite unexpected, so I think we need to understand why it was.”
The unusually cool desert night played havoc with tyre temperatures, exacerbating the graining issue and leaving Piastri struggling to find grip or pace. However, it was a predicament faced by all competitors in Las Vegas.
Adding insult to injury, Piastri’s evening wasn’t helped by a five-second penalty handed to him by the stewards for a start infringement. Officials stated that the McLaren driver had not lined up his car correctly within his grid box.
©McLaren
“I didn’t feel like I did anything different or overshot it, but I mean, clearly I must have been a bit out,” he said.
“It made a little bit of an impact at the start with after the first pit stop, but that was nowhere near the biggest problem I had tonight.”
Despite a challenging night in Las Vegas, McLaren’s championship ambitions remain firmly intact. With Ferrari just 24 points behind in the Constructors’ standings, the Woking-based team is pushing to secure its first title in 26 years.
“We’ve not won a constructors’ championship for over 25 years, so it would mean a lot,” Piastri conceded. “For myself, it’s definitely a cool thing to be able to help the team achieve, if that’s what we do.
“Of course, we want to be a bit higher up in the driver standings too, but obviously not that much to play for in that championship now, so the full focus is on the Constructors.”
©McLaren
With just two races left – Qatar and Abu Dhabi – McLaren must extend its lead over Ferrari to 45 points in Qatar to secure the constructors’ title early. Otherwise, the battle will head into the season finale.
For Piastri, the focus is not just on helping McLaren win but also on understanding and resolving the issues that plagued his Vegas performance. The Australian driver has consistently demonstrated his ability to adapt and learn, and he’ll be looking to bounce back in the next race.
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