News Summary
- Oscar Piastri was eliminated in Q2 at the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix, qualifying 13th after struggling with the rear grip of his McLaren.
- It was Piastri’s first failure to reach Q3 since the 2024 Mexican Grand Prix, ending a run of almost two years without a Q2 elimination.
- The Australian abandoned one qualifying attempt before improving to 13th, but his final lap was insufficient to progress.
Oscar Piastri suffered a major setback during qualifying for the 2026 Mexico City Grand Prix on Saturday (31), failing to reach Q3 for the first time since the same race in 2024. The McLaren driver qualified 13th after struggling with rear grip and abandoning an earlier flying lap, leaving him facing a difficult recovery in Sunday’s race at the Autódromo Hermanos Rodríguez.
The elimination was particularly unexpected after Piastri finished fourth in final practice, just 0.195s behind teammate Lando Norris. McLaren had appeared among the leading contenders for pole position, with Norris topping FP3 by only 0.001s over Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Piastri complains of rear grip as McLaren qualifying unravels
Piastri struggled to extract performance from his McLaren during the second qualifying segment, with the Australian unable to complete a clean lap when it mattered.
After abandoning an earlier attempt, the 2025 world champion expressed concern that his subsequent lap would not be sufficient to reach Q3.
“I’m afraid that lap’s not good enough to get through,” Piastri was told over the radio.
The Australian responded by questioning the car’s behaviour.
“Mate, I don’t know what happened. I had no rear grip,” he said.
His final attempt moved him to 13th, but the improvement was insufficient to reach the top ten.
The result represented a significant disappointment for McLaren, particularly after the team had shown encouraging pace throughout the weekend.
Piastri and Norris finished inside the top four during final practice, with the Australian demonstrating a clear improvement compared with Friday’s sessions.
However, that performance did not translate into a competitive qualifying result.
First Q2 elimination since Mexico 2024 ends Piastri’s run
Piastri’s elimination marked his first failure to reach Q3 since the 2024 Mexico City Grand Prix, when he qualified 17th after having his fastest Q1 lap deleted for exceeding track limits.
The Australian had subsequently established himself as one of Formula 1’s most consistent qualifiers, regularly reaching the final segment throughout the 2025 and 2026 seasons.
The result also came at a difficult moment in McLaren’s weekend, with the team attempting to challenge Ferrari and Mercedes for pole position.
Charles Leclerc had led both Friday sessions before McLaren emerged as a leading contender.
Piastri’s 13th-place qualifying result leaves him with considerable ground to recover, particularly at a circuit where overtaking opportunities depend heavily on straight-line speed and energy deployment.
His final starting position will depend on the application of grid penalties, including those issued to Max Verstappen, Liam Lawson and Valtteri Bottas.
GRANDE PRÊMIO is following every session of the Mexican Grand Prix this weekend, with breaking news, full coverage and real-time updates in its Formula 1 section.
