Oscar Piastri explains how a red flag shaped his unexpected early qualifying exit

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri qualified 12th at Interlagos after a Q2 red flag cut the session short, though he rejected the stoppage as the main excuse. A crash by Haas driver Rafael Camara with 45 seconds remaining prevented final lap improvements across the field. Meanwhile, Piastri's McLaren teammate Lando Norris secured pole position with a time of 1m 27.470s.

Piastri explained that tyre strategy and timing were the decisive factors rather than the red flag itself. He admitted McLaren may have switched to intermediate tyres too late to generate adequate temperature, leaving his best lap of 1m 30.369s short of reaching Q3.