Oscar Piastri heads into the United States Grand Prix with something to prove.
When he stood on top of the podium in Zandvoort, it looked like everything was finally falling into place for his first drivers’ championship.
That trend continued in Singapore, where he was forced wide by Norris at the start and later finished fourth, losing more ground to both Verstappen and Norris.
Piastri needs a strong result on Sunday. The McLaren driver may be leading the championship by just five points, but Max Verstappen is gaining ground fast.
Hill questions Piastri’s McLaren stability after US Grand Prix qualifying
Piastri’s lack of pace compared to Norris in all three qualifying sessions was clear, and he’ll be starting Sunday’s race from sixth.
His opening lap in Q3 didn’t inspire much confidence either, with Bearman managing a faster time in the Haas despite both being on used tyres.
Speaking on BBC Sport while watching Piastri’s onboard camera, Hill said: “Yeah, there’s something funny about the way that car’s behaving.
“I was watching, it looked like it was a little bit lairy going through the very fast switchback corners, two, three, four, five, going up to nine.”
“It just didn’t look planted at all. They’re in all sorts of trouble McLaren and they’re not realising their full potential.”
‘Tricky Day’ for McLaren, says Oscar Piastri after United States Grand Prix qualifying
If the race were to end with drivers holding their starting positions, Piastri would drop 10 points to Norris and 17 points to Verstappen. That would cut into his championship lead and give more momentum to Verstappen.
Speaking after qualifying, Piastri said: “A tricky day for us today. Obviously, not the result we wanted in the Sprint.
“It’s a shame to have not been able to finish. Massive thanks to the team for the big effort to get our cars back together.
“Quali was a tougher one compared to Sprint Quali. I just didn’t really feel particularly comfortable in the car, so I wasn’t able to put it all together.”
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“But it’s a long race tomorrow and anything can happen so we’ll make up some places and do what we can.”
Piastri’s Q3 lap was already under pressure after he took too much kerb at Turn 9 on his second run of Q2, causing damage that limited him in qualifying’s final session.
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