Piastri had been on course to improve his time on his final push lap before encountering yellow flags triggered by Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari going off at Turn 14.

As he slowed, Isack Hadjar arrived at high speed and lost control of his Racing Bull, sliding toward the McLaren and forcing Piastri to take avoiding action.

The moment ended any hope of regaining a front-row position after briefly holding provisional pole earlier in Q3.

Asked by SkySports F1 whether he had been caught by the yellows, Piastri replied: “Yeah.”

Pressed on where the lap could have put him, he said there were already issues even before the incident.

“You know, there was a few things as well at the start of the lap that didn’t go great from an operational point of view,” he said.

“I had to mess around with a few things that didn’t quite go how I wanted. So I don’t know how much time there was in there ultimately, and you know, there was still three or four corners left to go.

“So difficult to say, but what I can say is there was more out there that we didn’t get to use.”

Despite the frustration, Piastri believed McLaren’s form in varying conditions this weekend showed they can threaten from the third row.

“Yeah I definitely think so,” he said when asked if he could challenge the likes of Mercedes and Max Verstappen.

“I think we’ve got a good car underneath us. It seems to be working well in all kinds of conditions. So yeah, I think we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully make up some spots.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella praised the field for managing the treacherous wet conditions but admitted Piastri was unlucky not to be higher on the grid.

“Well done to everyone, pretty much, for the session being relatively clean compared to what it could have been,” he said.

“And it’s good for our team because we have pole position with Lando and a little bit of a shame with Oscar that found a yellow flag in the final attempt, which would have been his fastest lap and could have put him in the first positions on the grid as well.”

Stella felt third was possible without the interruption but noted McLaren’s position is still strong heading into the race.

“I think P3 was possible with Oscar. I’m not sure, I should look at the details, but you know what’s possible counts up to a certain point. P5 is still a good position,” he said.

He added that Vegas had traditionally challenged McLaren in the past two seasons, making their step forward this year particularly encouraging.

“So far good news, but obviously what counts is tomorrow,” Stella said.

“And we will try and do our best and finish on the podium with both cars.”

Piastri will start between George Russell and Liam Lawson in the race, which is expected to run in dry conditions — a sharp contrast to the rain-affected qualifying that left several contenders struggling for grip.

Norris takes Vegas pole as late incident ruins Piastri’s charge