Oscar Piastri was critical of his own performance in qualifying for the United States Grand Prix.
It followed a practice session in which a mistake at Turn 9 saw the 22-year-old run wide on exit, doing well to hold on to the bucking MCL60.
Heading into the weekend it was expected to be a more challenging weekend for the Woking squad though Norris’ performance suggests it is more competitive than anticipated.
To line up 10th for Sunday’s grand prix therefore stings for Piastri.
“Just wasn’t the best qualifying for myself,” he confessed.
“Some decent laps but not enough. Yeah, last lap in Q3 was quite poor.
“Clearly the car’s got some pace in it,” he added.
“We’ve got another chance tomorrow to try and do a better job but not my finest qualifying.”
This weekend’s United States Grand Prix employs the Sprint format.
As a result, Piastri will return to the Circuit of The Americas on Saturday for another, more truncated, qualifying shootout ahead of the F1 Sprint later in the date.
“I think just try and eliminate the mistakes,” he said of his goals for the balance of the weekend.
“Without the mistakes, the pace is genuinely quite good, it’s just very difficult to put it together.
“A couple of big mistakes in the last lap, so yeah, just consistency.
“It’s super bumpy around here and it makes it extremely tough to not make mistakes and be consistent, but yeah, got to do a better job.”
The Circuit of The Americas is notorious for its bumps, with part of the circuit resurfaced ahead of this year’s event.
That’s on top of similar works completed last year following complaints from MotoGP riders.
Coupled with high ambient temperatures, which soared into the 30s on Friday and are set to remain there across the weekend, it’s a hostile place for a rookie driver.
“Just the bumps and the different tarmac changes – there’s a couple of bits that are resurfaced and are really grippy and smooth, then there’s stuff from last year which is less grippy and less smooth.
“And then there’s stuff that looks like it was laid when the track first opened that has got no grip, so that’s another challenge.
“But it’s the same for everyone.”
