Jolyon Palmer pinpoints the mistake Oscar Piastri ‘must have’ made to suffer shock Q2 exit in Mexico

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri suffered a surprise Q2 elimination at the Mexico City Grand Prix, qualifying in 13th position. F1TV analysts Jolyon Palmer and James Hinchcliffe assessed that Piastri failed to get his soft Pirelli tires into the correct operating temperature window. After an initial mistake on his flying lap forced him to back out, Piastri struggled with low rear grip and could not extract enough pace to advance.

Piastri's fastest lap in Q2 was a 1:17.646, leaving him nearly a second off teammate Lando Norris, who topped the session. While Hinchcliffe argued Piastri lost decisive time through Turn 6 and the middle sector esses, sector data revealed Piastri actually improved in the middle sector but lost time in sectors one and three.