Oscar Piastri makes McLaren admission after messing up 'massive difference'

Oscar Piastri maintained his McLaren had "enough pace" to secure pole position for the Miami Grand Prix, after a disappointing session left him fourth on the grid.

The Australian will line up for full-distance race at the Miami International Autodrome behind Max Verstappen, team-mate Lando Norris and Kimi Antonelli.

Open about a grid-setting session that was not up to his usual standard this season, the 24-year-old explained how being able to drive the MCL39 "right on the limit" is something he and the Woking squad still needs to work on.

When asked if the tight margins seen across the weekend in Florida is now the true picture at the sharp end in F1, the five-time grand prix winner highlighted how McLaren has not had room for error all campaign.

"Yeah, I think so," he replied to media including RacingNews365. "There's definitely still some things with our car that we want to try and address, and driving it right on the limit is one of them.

"This weekend it has had enough pace to be on pole, it's just that I've not done as good a job as I should have, unfortunately.

"I think it's always been tight, the gaps always been close, and potentially our advantage has been a little bit more on Sundays.

"But our picture of where we stand has always been that if we make mistakes, we're going to be beaten - and that's been true through the year."

The 'massive difference' maker

Having taken the lead of the sprint at the first corner and led for most of the one-third-distance race - only losing the victory to Norris on account of a safety car benefitting his team-mate in the Sunshine State for a second year in a row - Piastri believes a warm grand prix will play into McLaren's hands.

That is a trend evident across the season so far, but he nonetheless underlined how qualifying was the "massive difference" maker in Miami.

"It's hard to say [how different the grand prix will be from the sprint], honestly," he said. "The tyres have behaved a bit better than most people have expected, I would say, compared to last year.

"If it's hot, that might help us out a little bit, but qualifying is still going to make a massive difference for the grand prix.

"So it's not going to be easy to make progress, but I'm confident in their car that we've got."