Oscar Piastri highlights major uncertainty after 'bizarre' experience

Oscar Piastri has labelled qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix "bizarre and somewhat frustrating" after a dramatic change in wind direction caught him off-guard.

Between Q2 and Q3, it did a complete 180 of the 10 remaining drivers, moving from a tailwind down the start/finish straight to a headwind.

It left the Australian driver, who had been expecting to be fighting only McLaren team-mate Lando Norris for pole position, on the back foot after the first timed runs in the final part of the grid-setting hour.

However, things were no better on his second attempt, which left him searching for answers. When asked to sum up Q3, he maintained his changeable conditions were no "excuse" for the sudden loss of pace in his MCL39.

"Depends where you're sat," Piastri told media, including RacingNews365. "If you're sat where Charles is, fantastic. If you're sat where I'm sat, bizarre and somewhat frustrating.

"But yeah, I mean, I think the conditions completely changed, and it was just weird. My first lap felt terrible because I was pushing too much, and kind of with the wind direction from the first two sessions in mind.

"So, then I felt like I did a better job on the second lap of managing expectations, and it was even worse. So yeah, a bizarre session, but I need to look back and see what differences it made.

"Things definitely felt more tricky for myself as well in Q3, but I think for everybody it would have been difficult. So that's not our excuse."

Further weather chaos?

However, the eight-time grand prix winner is feeling confident he can win from second on the grid in Hungary for the second year in a row, 12 months after his maiden victory.

Although there is, again, the threat of changeable conditions, with a risk of rain looming large over the race, something that could produce significant chaos.

"Pretty confident," the 24-year-old added when asked about his expectations for the grand prix. "It was good last year, so hopefully it can be good again this year.

"But yeah, like Charles said, there's some rain around. We'll see if that impacts the race. But I think our pace has been good, but Charles has been quick all weekend, in certain sessions.

"It is a very difficult track to overtake on, and it's not going to be the easiest place to try and regain the lead."