Piastri hands McLaren warning after Austin sprint shock

Oscar Piastri has warned McLaren that its F1 rivals "seem stronger" with the team "not quite as strong" in the United States following sprint qualifying.

Piastri will start Saturday's shorter Austin race from 16th on the grid following a SQ1 elimination after seeing his fastest time scrubbed for exceeding track limits at the penultimate Turn 19.

Team-mate Lando Norris could only take fourth on the grid, some 0.250s behind title rival and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen. 

McLaren still enjoys a 41-point lead over Red Bull in the constructors', with both teams bringing upgrade packages to Austin, with Norris running the only new example of a front-wing, although Piastri did try it in the sole practice session.

Reflecting on his unexpected exit, Piastri felt the big performance advantage enjoyed by McLaren in recent races had been eroded. 

"I mean most of the lap was good, we made a few mistakes in the last sector, but obviously the second-to-last corner, I just tried to go a bit too fast, and that was the result," Piastri observed. 

"It is a shame, but one good thing about sprint weekends is that we have another shot [on Saturday.]

"The car feels okay, but it is maybe not quite as strong as it has been in the last few races, but I don't think that is because we are weaker.

"I think the others maybe seem a little bit stronger, so let's see.

"We are still well and truly in the fight, so it is certainly not a case of we're miles behind, but it is maybe a little bit more difficult for us than in a few of the other weekends.

"It is going to be tough [to score points] from where we are, but we will try and will see what we can do."