Piastri issues McLaren warning in Red Bull title fight

Oscar Piastri has stressed that McLaren must "capitalise" on its "incredibly quick car", which is viewed by many as the fastest on the grid. 

McLaren has enjoyed an excellent season and has caught Red Bull, following an impressive upgrades package introduced for the Miami Grand Prix. 

Lando Norris went on to claim his first F1 victory in the Miami International Autodrome, whilst Piastri's wait continues. 

Small errors have cost McLaren this year, as recently as the recent British Grand Prix. Piastri was fitted with intermediate tyres a lap too late in Silverstone, ending his chances of winning. 

Errors have also denied Piastri a possible win in Imola and Austria, although the Australian believes himself and McLaren can put it all together to be victorious. 

"I think definitely ready to do it," Piastri told select media including RacingNews365. "I think the kind of good thing but kind of bad thing is it's never been the same thing that's prevented us from from winning. 

"Obviously in Silverstone we made a wrong call, in Imola we had an issue in qualifying with traffic. Austria, the less said about qualifying in Austria, the better. 

"So I guess it's a good thing that it's not been a repeated error or mistake. I feel like there's been a good handful now, I think on both sides of the garage, where we felt like we could have won the race. 

"I think we've got the hardest part nailed, we've got an incredibly quick car. We just need to capitalise on using it."

Silverstone frustration

McLaren's costly error in the British GP saw the Woking-based outfit opt against double-stacking Norris and Piastri.

Piastri was effectively sacrificed and made to complete another lap in the rain on slick tyres, which saw him caught by the leaders following their pit stops before the McLaren driver entered the pit lane.

Whilst this moment frustrated Piastri, he still thought he had a chance of winning as he recognised that a return to slick tyres would happen; however, he had to settle for fourth.

"Probably a good thing I didn't open the radio," insisted Piastri. "Obviously frustrated at that point. "I knew there was rain still coming. 

"After the first couple of laps, I could see that the cars ahead had clearly used up their inters a lot. So I was actually optimistic at that point. But then I kind of hit the same wall as everyone else. 

"But I knew we would have more chances later in the race with with getting back onto the slicks, the choice of tyres we had. 

"So I knew there'd be more opportunities. I just tried to give ourselves the best chance of still trying to win."