Frustrating day for Piastri, promising showing for Norris

F1 Grand Prix, GP Miami, Miami

Having failed to convert his lead into victory in the 18-lap Miami F1 Sprint and having only ended up fourth on the grid for today's Miami Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was left to rue his performance over a single lap.

McLaren had a contrasting day on Saturday at the Miami International Autodrome. Lando Norris grabbed victory in the sprint race and secured a P2 in the main qualifying, but his team-mate Oscar Piastri failed to convert his lead in the 18-lap sprint into a win, and struggled for a clean lap in the main qualifying session.

Commenting on his Saturday, the Australian said: “It’s been a bit of a frustrating day, but there are positives as we head into race day tomorrow.

"This morning I did all I could to win the Sprint, but unfortunately the timing of the Safety Car just took it away from me. However, the team did a good job in tricky conditions, and P2 in the Sprint was still a positive result.

“Unfortunately, this afternoon I just fell out of the rhythm at the wrong time and wasn’t able to put a good lap in during Q3. It’s a shame as my pace in Q2 was strong and proved there were a few more positions on offer.

"Tomorrow is another day and the pace in the car is good, so we’ll try to make up those positions in the race tomorrow," concluded the Melbourne-born driver.

Having struggled for one-lap pace in qualifying in previous rounds, Norris was left to praise the improvements he has made in Miami, claiming that he felt progress in the cockpit of his MCL39.

“A good day on track with an important Sprint victory and positive Qualifying position. I’m happy with my performances and the progress I’ve been making with the car this weekend. It’s been feeling good, and I’ve taken positive steps forward in every session.

“I’ll continue to work hard with my team overnight as Miami seems to be full of surprises but I’m ready for anything, and keen to see what we can do into Turn 1 tomorrow.”

"I'm very happy with the end result. Just a shame when you miss out on pole, so that's the only frustrating bit. But I think I've been trying different things, I've been doing different things with the team to try and work a bit more in this area and things have been taking a step forward. So I'm happy. Maybe not quite there yet, but happy with the progress.

Asked whether the Miami International Autodrome presents more opportunity to make overtaking manoeuvres, Norris said that the DRS effect is quite powerful at the Floridian track. "

I would say so. I mean, the DRS helps a lot around here with the overtaking. It's what you need. You also have some much bigger braking zones than you have in Suzuka, so I hope so anyway.

"I hope that's the case and we can have a good race tomorrow. But I don't just expect competition from Max. Kimi's been quick all weekend and Oscar has been as well. So yeah, I just expect a tough race from all accounts.

Reflecting on the Woking-based outfit's Saturday in Miami, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella noted that while the British outfit has been left delighted by the results, the close margins show that they will need to push the MCL39 to its limits.

“Another solid Qualifying session to close a positive day for us overall, following P1 and P2 in the Sprint earlier. The field is very tight. We saw once again that Verstappen managed to put together a good lap in Qualifying to take Pole position. There’s not much margin to our competitors at the moment, which is a reminder of the work we need to keep doing to improve the competitiveness of the car.

“Our car had good potential in Qualifying but it’s a little tricky to drive at the limit, which is something we need to continue to work on. Still, the positions are promising for tomorrow, we can race well from there, and the race pace is very strong. We’re looking forward to another exciting Miami Grand Prix.”

“A good day on track with an important Sprint victory and positive Qualifying position. I’m happy with my performances and the progress I’ve been making with the car this weekend. It’s been feeling good, and I’ve taken positive steps forward in every session.

“I’ll continue to work hard with my team overnight as Miami seems to be full of surprises but I’m ready for anything, and keen to see what we can do into Turn 1 tomorrow.”