Piastri makes 'destiny' claim after Mexican recovery

Oscar Piastri has claimed he had more control over his "destiny" during the Mexico City Grand Prix compared to the prior weekend's race at the Circuit of the Americas. 

A mistake in qualifying resulted in a shock Q1 exit for the Australian driver, marking the first time this season he had failed to progress to Q3. 

Starting from P17, Piastri progressed through the field and recovered to finish eighth, scoring four points. But despite the strength of McLaren's MCL38, fighting through the pack was more difficult than Piastri expected. 

The 22-year-old still found some positives to take from the weekend at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez compared to the United States Grand Prix, where he settled for fifth.

Piastri struggled in Austin for outright pace, whilst in Mexico City he demonstrated his speed by topping third practice. 

Had he not exceeded track limits in Q1, Piastri would have been in contention for a strong qualifying and race result. 

When asked if he enjoyed fighting through the pack, Piastri told select media including RacingNews365: "A bit, yes. I think when the field is so tightly bunched, it's always very difficult to make progress. 

"It was maybe a little bit tougher than I expected. I think the pace at the end of the race was good once I got some free air, I just didn't have enough of it starting where I was. 

"Obviously, that's the thing to work on in Brazil. I think, outside the results, I felt like it was coming together to be a good weekend. So the result is obviously a massive shame. 

"But I think there are still some positives compared to Austin, which was a pretty lonely P5. I feel like I at least had a bit more control over my destiny."