“Very bizarre”: Piastri reacts to shocking Q2 exit ahead of Mexico City Grand Prix

For the first time since 2024, Oscar Piastri has found himself out at the second stage of Qualifying. 

It’s no secret that it’s been a tricky season all -around for the Australian driver. The MCL40 has proven to be miles off its predecessor, and results have been hard to come by. Combine that with the two wins his teammate has amassed across the season, and for Piastri, it’s been especially bleak. 

Although his season has been winless so far, which is seemingly uncharacteristic given his seven-win 2025 season, Piastri’s Q3 appearance record has remained intact. During Saturday’s Qualifying in Mexico City, though, that stat finally took a hit.

Piastri had looked decently strong throughout the weekend’s practice sessions, with the McLaren showing a bit of promise as he took fourth during the penultimate free practice session. His teammate Lando Norris topped the timing sheets, suggesting that McLaren had made progress compared to last weekend in Austin, where the pace was off. 

Q1 was tidy for Piastri, but Q2 is where things took an unexpected turn. Piastri went out on used soft tyres and was unable to get in a sensible lap on his first attempts. Swapping out the scrub tyres for fresher rubber, the Australian driver went out for a first attempt at a push lap. Unfortunately, Piastri would abort that push lap, meaning that he would only have one more shot at an improved lap time to get him into Q3. The opportunity was there, but the McLaren driver would ultimately fail to improve his sector times. 

After his final Qualifying lap, Piastri was clearly baffled by the result, relaying that he lacked the rear grip needed to make the lap stick:

“I don’t know what happened,” he said to his race engineer upon hearing that his lap would not get him into the next stage of Qualifying. “I had no rear grip.”

When speaking to media after the disappointing exit, Piastri doubled down on his confusion regarding the situation. 

“I'm not sure what happened there,” he repeated. 

“The balance was completely different somehow, so I don’t really know what happened. I’m sure we’ll have a look, but, yeah, just very, very bizarre,” he concluded. 

Very bizarre indeed, as the Australian driver finds himself lining up thirteenth in tomorrow’s Grand Prix. When asked what Sunday’s game plan is, Piastri said:

“Now, just try and make up as many spots as I can and get into the points.”