It was deja vu for Oscar Piastri from last week’s US GP, as he bowed out in the first part of qualifying — only this time, it was for the Grand Prix in Mexico rather than the Austin sprint.
This surprising Q1 exit has put immense pressure on Piastri, as he will start from P17 on the grid on Sunday. However, the Aussie feels he can take inspiration from Lando Norris’ 2023 heroics in Mexico when the Briton started from 17th, just like him.
For the first time this season, Piastri is knocked out of Q1 ❌#MexicoGP pic.twitter.com/eOwW5y0ywy
— Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) October 26, 2024
Piastri had a very scruffy qualifying session at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez on Saturday, with his first lap time on medium tires being deleted for track limits. His final lap time on the soft tires wasn’t enough to put him through to the top 15, as he got knocked out by less than half a tenth.
After his Q1 exit, Piastri told Sky Sports F1 that he made a mistake in turn 12, which cost him a spot in Q2. “My lap was easily going to be enough so it’s very frustrating to have made that mistake,” he said. “I lost about a second. A pain.”
Still, the Aussie driver is optimistic about his chances on Sunday. He recalled his teammate Norris‘ recovery from P17 to P5 at last year’s Mexican GP.
Piastri continued, “We have a similar position to Lando last year, so I will make sure I will do my homework on how he went through the field and try to do the same I guess.”
It was almost a repeat of Norris’ chaotic Q1 showing form 12 months ago for the #81 driver. So, he would hope to emulate the Briton’s race recovery as well on Sunday and find his way back into the points.
Norris’ charge at the 2023 Mexican GP
Like Piastri, Norris also made a mistake last year in Q1 and then a yellow flag during his final runs did not allow him to improve on his time. This left him only 19th after qualifying, which became a P17 start after grid penalties for Yuki Tsunoda and Lance Stroll.
Now, it was an uphill task to move up the order at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, as it is a slightly tricky track for overtaking. With the twisty high downforce middle sector, it is often difficult to follow and the sluggish corners in the stadium section can limit drivers from staying in touch with the car ahead.
Still, Norris and McLaren used strategy and a safety car period to their advantage. The #4 driver pitted on lap 18 to get off his soft tires and put on the hard tires. While he came out in P18, Norris did a good job to get to 11th, right behind Piastri.
He started P17 and finished P5 @LandoNorris is your #F1DriverOfTheDay #F1 #MexicoGP @salesforce pic.twitter.com/CECTcJb8Q9
— Formula 1 (@F1) October 29, 2023
There on, a safety car and a red flag later reset both McLaren drivers’ progress and they lost positions after the restart. Norris had fallen back to P14, but charged through again to get to 10th place.
As he gained two more places and came behind Piastri, McLaren issued team orders to swap them over. This was the perfect move as Norris further overtook cars to finish in fifth place and cap off his stellar recovery.
