The Australian had shown strong pace across the weekend, finishing second in the sprint behind teammate Lando Norris after qualifying third in sprint qualifying, but was unable to replicate that form over a single lap as conditions and car behaviour fluctuated throughout qualifying.
“It was a bit tough. I mean it was just very variable from a lot of things,” he explained.
“Wind. Track conditions. What the power unit wants to do. It was all a little bit random.
“So not the smoothest of sessions. Especially the last lap of Q3.”
Piastri pointed to an unusual issue on his final run that distorted his lap profile, leaving him unable to challenge further up the order, despite setting the fastest middle sector time in Q3.
“Did a, what I thought was a good job through Turn 4, 5 and 6. And then something weird happened, and that’s why my middle sector was so good because I lost a whole bunch of time with a super clip when I didn’t expect it and then had more energy on the back straight,” he said.
Secure your spot today.
“So that’s why that looks so good.”
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The result marked the first time in 2026 that Piastri has been outqualified by Norris, who could only manage fourth himself in a tightly contested session headed by Kimi Antonelli.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said the changing conditions and fine margins between teams had played a decisive role.
“Well I think we said already yesterday after the sprint qualifying where we were in pole position that actually, multiple cars could have been in pole position, because we had Mercedes that struggled a bit with deployment I think, Leclerc made a couple of mistakes.” he explained.
“So actually the reality is that because of the combination of the upgrades and track characteristics, I think the four teams are very close.
“And it’s more about execution.”
He added that wind shifts and power unit consistency had made it difficult for drivers to find rhythm compared to earlier in the weekend.
“Today the conditions were different to yesterday,” Stella added.
“The wind was very different. We had a few things to manage with the power unit consistency and the drivers needed to find their rhythm.
“And it looks like some other teams have been better than us from this point of view.
“So I think the reality is that the teams are very close and it’s more up to the execution.”
Looking ahead, Piastri admitted uncertainty over how conditions could shape Sunday’s race, with forecasts pointing to possible thunderstorms around the Miami International Autodrome.
“I don’t know,” he said when asked about the forecast.
“To be honest I’ve not looked. Everyone’s spoken about it the whole weekend, so I’m just going to roll with that! But we’ll see what we get.
“I think if it is wet, that’s going to obviously throw in a lot of spanners in the works because no one’s really driven these cars in the rain and no one really knows what they’re going to do.
“So, yeah, hopefully we’re on the right side of that.”
Stella echoed that uncertainty, suggesting the weather could create an unpredictable grand prix as Formula 1 evaluates whether changes to the schedule may be required.
“Yes the conditions at the moment look like they will be wet at some stage. But it’s thunders, so difficult to say when and how,” he said.
“So this can create for an eventful race I would say. We just have to be, you know, adapt to the condition, be responsive, usual basics of racing in unpredictable situations looking at the weather.
“And like I say, I think we look forward to an exciting race.”
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