Credits: Imago

Oscar Piastri has admitted that he struggled during the Japanese GP qualification and reasoned that the struggle was a result of the progress McLaren made over the winter. The MCL38 has reportedly improved, but with the improvement came unusual tire degradation, which is costing the British team dearly.

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The Papayas cut down their gap to Red Bull from six-tenths to three-tenths in just six months. This resulted in a satisfactory qualification for Lando Norris in Japan, who qualified in P3 behind the Red Bull duo of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez and ahead of Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz.

Despite the progress, the newly found tire degradation is now the Achilles heel, and closing down the gap indeed costs them distinctly, to say the least.

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Speaking about the same, Piastri stated, as per SpeedCafe, “With the tires and the cars getting quicker and quicker, it’s just difficult not to overshoot the tires. As the car is getting faster, obviously putting the tires under more and more stress, so it just gets more and more difficult.”

For the race on Sunday, Norris gets to fight Sainz for the podium, but his teammate Piastri could only manage P6, who lines up alongside Fernando Alonso in the third row, ahead of Lewis Hamilton. Reasoning for his poor qualification, the 23-year-old lamented that he floundered during the session, which led him to believe that there “was more on the table” than what he could extract. For this, he blames nobody but himself.

Oscar Piastri rues about not finding rhythm in Suzuka

The 2024 Japanese GP started on the wrong foot for Piastri, who failed to find rhythm right from Q2. This resulted in him barely managing P8 and only improving two places in the next and final session.

“A solid session is not the word I would use for it. [I] Just struggled a bit from Q2 onwards just to find the rhythm, and just struggled a bit, especially in the middle sector,” he rued.

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McLaren arrived in Japan with immense optimism, thanks to their positive results last time when Norris and Piastri stood on the podium. However, things changed for them during qualifying, as Piastri believed he could have done better.

The Australian driver reflected on their performance and stated that they were second quickest here in Suzuka last year. However, in 2024, he concluded, “I would say this weekend [we’re] just second quickest, and the driver can make the difference. I didn’t today.”

All in all, Oscar Piastri is well aware that some tight fights are coming on Sunday. Teams know that it’s all to play for in the race, and the McLaren duo will have to give their best to make it count since the Suzuka International Racing Course is everything but kind to the drivers.