"Oscar Piastri's car is either intentionally or mistakenly set up slower": Fans left shellshocked after the Australian's disastrous qualifying

F1 fans were in disbelief after Lando Norris qualified on pole position for the Mexico Grand Prix, while McLaren teammate and championship leader Oscar Piastri was nearly six-tenths slower in P8. The Australian driver has led the drivers' standings since Round 5 of the season, and has rarely been so far off from his teammate's pace.

However, Norris controlled the pace throughout qualifying, while Piastri struggled to even come close to the Top 5. After his pole lap, the Briton exclaimed on team radio how he couldn't believe what he'd just done. Meanwhile, his teammate was on the other end of the spectrum, not knowing what caused his drop in performance in qualifying.

Many fans on social media felt McLaren might have unfairly interfered in the drivers' championship battle by favoring Lando Norris over Oscar Piastri. One fan wrote on X:

"You can’t tell me Oscar and Landos driving has drifted that far apart over the season, Oscar’s car is either intentionally or mistakenly set up slower."

Another seconded the sentiment, writing:

"Half a second between Norris and Piastri… say whatever you want, but McLaren is clearly giving the Brit an edge. The car (especially the front end?) is totally set up for him. There’s no other explanation." "Oscar couldn’t get off the podium whole season, now all of a sudden he’s struggling to make Q3, it’s all over, it’s too obvious Mclaren," one fan shared.

Another X user, who couldn't believe the sudden intra-team gap in performance, wrote:

"There's no way that 2 teammates who were so close to each other all season long SUDDENLY has a .600ms gap between them. I'm sorry Oscar Piastri is not that bad of a driver to have such a gap..Zak Brown & his dirty henchmen are sabotaging Oscar ( I just can't prove it yet)."

Another fan highlighted how Oscar Piastri's form has witnessed a steep drop since the summer break ended. They wrote:

"Has Oscar forgotten how to drive or is his car being tampered with… legit question the drip off since the break has been phenomenal."

After the US GP race weekend, which Max Verstappen dominated, there was also a lot of talk about McLaren possibly prioritizing one driver to ensure the Red Bull driver doesn't snatch the drivers' championship from under their nose. A fan felt this qualifying result indicated the team had made its choice.

"Looks like McLaren have finally picked a number one driver.." they wrote.

Oscar Piastri baffled by 'mysterious' struggles in Mexico GP qualifying

The McLaren of Oscar Piastri at the F1 Mexico Grand Prix Qualifying - Source: Getty

In a post-qualifying interview at the Autodromos Hermanos Rodriguez, Oscar Piastri expressed that he didn't understand the steep drop in pace. He was slower than both Mercedes drivers, the Red Bull of Max Verstappen, both Ferraris, and, surprisingly, the Williams of Carlos Sainz.

Speaking with Sky Sports about the dismal session and low starting grid position, Piastri said:

"I mean, it feels okay. There's just no pace. Yeah, it's a bit of a mystery. It's just been more or less the same gap all weekend. So yeah, we'll have a look at where it was going wrong then. But yeah, I would say (it was) a bit frustrating."

Oscar Piastri will start the 71-lap Mexico Grand Prix in P7 instead of P8. Carlos Sainz has a five-place grid penalty to serve for causing a collision with Andrea Kimi Antonelli at the United States Grand Prix. The McLaren driver stands to lose his championship lead on Sunday if Norris wins from pole position and he doesn't finish in the Top 4.

Edited by Yash Kotak