Oscar Piastri reveals 'pretty big moment' that wrecked Chinese bid

Oscar Piastri has revealed he suffered "a pretty big moment" that denied him in qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix.

The McLaren driver encountered the issue on his final run in Q3 at the Shanghai International Circuit, leading to him starting fifth, ahead of team-mate Lando Norris, but behind an all-Mercedes front row, and an all-Ferrari second row.

Piastri feels he could have at least been in the fight with Ferrari for a higher grid slot, but for his nervy moment on track.

"My last lap had a pretty big moment at turn one," said Piastri, speaking to the media, including RacingNews365.

"It's always easy to say you can make up the time, and I think if you put my best sectors together, then it's probably in the mix with the Ferraris.

"But with optimising the power unit, with how tricky the tyres are in these conditions, the wind, I'm pretty sure everyone's got a similar story.

"So I think where we've ended up is pretty representative. Hopefully, we've improved a little for the race tomorrow compared to the sprint."

'Biggest thing' highlighted between McLaren and Mercedes

Piastri feels McLaren has edged slightly closer to Mercedes over the weekend in China so far, compared to the team's performance in the season-opening race on home soil in Australia.

However, he feels there is one area, in particular, where McLaren is sorely lacking.

"In Melbourne, we should have been quite a lot closer than we were in qualifying," he said. "In the race, obviously, I'll never know."

That was with reference to the fact he crashed on his reconnaissance lap to the grid.

"What we've seen this weekend is pretty representative," he added. "We've got a little bit closer, but we're still half a second off, so it's not like we're really in the mix at the moment.

"We've got some grip to find. That seems to be the biggest thing.

"If there's been a positive, we've gotten more on top of the things we want from the power unit, how to implement them, and just doing a better job on that side. But unfortunately, you can't make up for the grip you don't have."