Oscar Piastri has conceded that his poor qualifying result at the Las Vegas Grand Prix has complicated his bid for a maiden Formula 1 world championship.
The McLaren driver will start the race in fifth while team-mate and title rival Lando Norris is on pole, having gone quickest by three tenths in the wet.
Piastri simply got caught out by a late yellow flag caused by Charles Leclerc’s excursion at Turn 12, which forced him to back off at the end of his final lap in Q3 and not improve.
It was the last thing Piastri needed, given he is 24 points behind championship leader Norris with only three rounds remaining.
When asked if it complicated his title bid, Piastri replied: “Yes, yes it does. But it’s Las Vegas after all, so a lot could happen.
“We’ve seen pretty entertaining races here the last couple of years, a lot of action, so hopefully I can get myself involved on the right side of that action and make up some ground tomorrow.”
