Piastri says late McLaren tyre switch cost him a Q3 place in Brazil

Oscar Piastri believes McLaren’s switch to intermediate tyres came too late to give him a chance of reaching Q3 in Brazilian Grand Prix qualifying at Interlagos. He said he had just completed a lap when the change came and that he needed another lap or two to get the tyres up to temperature.

Piastri made it through Q1 on full wet tyres; conditions had improved enough in Q2 for teams to switch to intermediates. He said some lines he had used on the wets did not work on the intermediates, and that slightly better decisions might have put him through.

Asked whether the red flag had cost him an extra lap, Piastri said every driver would have had another and that he was unsure.

He qualified 12th but will start 10th after penalties were applied to Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton for power-unit changes.