According to Speedcafe, Oscar Piastri found himself wrestling with a stubborn lack of grip through Turn 2 on his final Q3 run, leaving him unable to find the improvement he desperately needed at Sepang. That late-session stumble locked him into seventh on the timesheets, placing him one position behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris. Ironically, this marked the seventh time this year that the Australian has qualified in the exact same seventh spot.
Yet, there is a small silver lining for the papaya squad on the grid. Both McLarens will inherit a promotion, moving up one position after Isack Hadjar copped a five-place penalty for swapping engine components. Even so, the numbers don't lie. Piastri admitted that beyond his specific troubles at Turn 2, the machine simply lacked the raw speed to fight the frontrunners this weekend.
“It was tricky out there for sure,” Piastri said. “I think my last lap I went through Turn 2 and didn’t have a whole lot of grip. So I need to understand what happened there.”
Norris delivered an equally blunt verdict after securing sixth, telling Sky Sports F1 that his own lap was clean enough, but the car was fundamentally too slow. The reigning world champion pointed the finger at the asphalt, noting that the extreme tarmac roughness and high temperatures of the circuit have shaken up the pecking order—handing an advantage to Red Bull while leaving Mercedes and McLaren to suffer more than expected. Norris also highlighted a persistent straight-line deficit, admitting it leaves him vulnerable and makes life harder than it ought to be.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed those fears, revealing that the mysterious speed deficit on the straights had already plagued the team in Azerbaijan and remains under active investigation alongside their partners at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains. Stella noted that while the team wasn't shocked by the pace of resurgent rivals like Red Bull, managing the brutal thermal and physical demands of the track remains an ongoing puzzle.
Looking ahead to Sunday, the garage is pinning its hopes on the longer runs witnessed on Friday. Piastri remains cautious about carving through the pack given the promising pace of the cars around him, while Norris hopes strategy, pit stops, and the chaos of a long race can help recover the ground lost on Saturday.
