Oscar Piastri feels the bumpy nature of the Circuit of the Americas will work against McLaren over the course of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix.
Over the past two race weekends in Japan and Qatar, McLaren has scored more points than any of its rivals, including Red Bull following stellar performances from Piastri and team-mate Lando Norris.
The Lusail International Circuit, in particular, played to the strengths of the MCL60 given the smooth asphalt that weaved its way through a range of high- and medium-speed corners.
In contrast, COTA has become notorious for its uneven nature, despite a major resurfacing that took place at the start of 2022 after heavy criticism of the track from both F1 and Moto GP, especially.
Ahead of another sprint weekend, Piastri believes McLaren will not be as competitive as they were at the last two grands prix.
“It’s a really cool circuit, a lot of different types of corners, a lot of elevation changes,” said Piastri, who will compete at the track for the first time in his motor-racing career.
“We’ll see how competitive we can be, but I don’t think it’ll be quite as good as the last couple of weekends.”
Suggested to Piastri that the bumpy circuit would be a factor, he replied: “That’s one of the things.
“Qatar was a very smooth track, but it also had a lot of fast corners, no really slow corners, which was good news for us.
“Here, I think the bumps won’t be our friend in particular, I mean, they’re never anyone’s friend, but I think we might suffer a bit with that.
“Also, there are a lot more slow corners here than say, Qatar in particular, and even Japan, so that won’t help either.”
Piastri, though, does not see McLaren falling back toward the midfield, although is mindful the Mercedes W14s are strengthened with a revised floor.
“I really hope not, I don’t think so,” when asked if McLaren would be fighting for the minor placings.
“When I say we might not be as good as the last couple of weekends, I’m hoping that kind of means we’re in the fight with Ferrari and Mercedes.
“I’ve seen Mercedes have some upgrades so we will see what their performance is like.
“Mercedes were quick in Qatar but I think we were probably second quickest behind Red Bull.
“This weekend I don’t think we will be, or if we are, we will be a lot closer with Ferrari and Mercedes.”
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