Oscar Piastri expressed frustration after qualifying seventh for the Monaco Grand Prix, admitting McLaren had few solutions to address the car’s fundamental grip problems that left him 0.574 seconds behind pole position winner Andrea Kimi Antonelli. The Australian driver maintained seventh place across all three qualifying sessions, highlighting the consistent pace deficit that plagued the Woking-based team throughout Saturday’s session.
Despite improvements in the car’s handling compared to Friday’s practice sessions, Piastri remained disappointed by the performance gap to the frontrunners. “We’re just lacking grip compared to the others,” Piastri told Crash.net. “I think compared to yesterday, the car actually felt a pretty decent step nicer to drive, which is good. But also bad, when you’re still as far off as we are.” The McLaren driver emphasized that while the car felt more manageable, the fundamental pace deficit remained problematic.
The challenging nature of extracting performance from the McLaren was evident during Q3, where Piastri experienced a dramatic moment at the Rascasse corner on his opening lap. He attributed the incident to the necessity of pushing beyond the car’s natural limits to compensate for the lack of pace. “When you’re pushing as hard as we are, and you know that you’ve got to find a fair bit of time to even stand a chance of being with the others, then mistakes and wild moments are going to happen,” Piastri explained.
McLaren’s weekend was further complicated by ongoing development work with a new front wing that was previously tested and shelved during the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. Piastri confirmed the team reverted to their older specification for Monaco, acknowledging the new component still requires refinement. However, he stressed that the aerodynamic upgrade was not the root cause of their performance struggles, stating, “when you’re missing six-tenths, it’s not about the front wing.”
Looking ahead to Sunday’s race, Piastri will start one position ahead of teammate Lando Norris, who also endured a difficult qualifying session. When asked about potential strategic opportunities similar to last year’s race, which featured tactical games as drivers created gaps for teammates to pit, Piastri remained realistic about McLaren’s prospects. “For us, there’s nothing we can really do, so we’ll see what the race holds,” he concluded, suggesting limited strategic options given their current performance level.