"I don't have any answers" - Oscar Piastri perplexed by Barcelona F1 struggles

Oscar Piastri conceded he didn’t have any answers after a difficult afternoon at the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix saw him cross the line 35 seconds behind McLaren Formula 1 team mate Lando Norris.

While Norris finished third, Piastri was heading for seventh place until the late retirements of Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli gifted him two spots and a P5 finish.

Asked by Crash.net if he’d been able to understand what had gone wrong, he said: “No, not really.

"I was trying a lot of different things and running into a lot of different problems, so I think just struggling a lot with grip, tyre life, obviously.

“So I don't have any answers at the moment. I'm sure there will be some answers later, but yeah, it was a surprise to struggle so much.”

He added: “There were a few laps here and there that felt a little bit better, but that normally came at a price a few laps later, so it's just not an easy afternoon at all, and hopefully all I can hope is that we learn why it was so difficult from that.

“Obviously, the points we gained today were still reasonable, but obviously, I want the performance to be a lot stronger than it was.”

Friday had seen McLaren lead the way, with Norris top on outright pace, and Piastri in third place. In contrast, Lewis Hamilton was only ninth fastest in the race-winning Ferrari. 

While the long runs in the same Friday afternoon session showed that Mercedes had an overall advantage, Piastri does not believe there were any warning signs pointing to a potential Sunday slog. 

“No, not really," he said. "But the conditions were a bit cooler on Friday, and also the long runs we did were much, much shorter. They were probably half the length of the first stint we did. So at that point, you're not going to learn that much. That's probably about where my race was okay until.”

Asked if there were any differences in set-up relative to Norris, he said: “Marginal stuff, but nothing major.”

McLaren was hoping for a major step up in Barcelona after the disappointing Monaco weekend.

However, despite his own race struggles, Piastri indicated that there were encouraging signs.

“I think in qualifying we were definitely a lot closer, obviously,” he said. “And I think Lando in the race was able to challenge the Mercedes. I think clearly Ferrari have taken a big step forward this weekend, and even without the upgrades they had, they've always been incredibly quick in the corners.

“And I think on a day like today where you need that downforce and that grip to protect the tyres. I think it was a big advantage today, so I think it's all perfectly explainable.

“Just we're always lacking that last tenth or two, or in my case today a lot more than that! But we're when you're trying to chase that last little bit, things are a bit uncomfortable, we need to put the car in a place it doesn't always like to be, and that comes with some chances.”