Piastri: I didn't have a good lap, but I hope to make up for it.

      McLaren drivers Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri posted the second and third fastest times in qualifying for the US Grand Prix sprint. Lando called the result unsurprising, saying that McLaren is behind Red Bull on a quick lap, while Oscar explained his deficit by saying he didn’t put together the decisive attempt very well.

      Lando Norris (2nd): “Of course I would have liked to be on pole, but the result isn’t surprising, since we’ve been a bit slower than Red Bull lately, so I’m still happy. I don’t know exactly how much I lost to Max, but there were a couple of moments during the lap where I could have done better. I hit a few bumps, but that’s a feature of this track, so overall I’m pleased.

      I hope we can fight for the win in the sprint. Usually our race pace is a bit better than our qualifying pace. I mean, we’ve had problems with qualifying pace throughout the season, especially when the fight is as tight as today. So I’m not surprised by the result, but in the race we can expect more and get back to the front.”

      Oscar Piastri (3rd): “I made a few mistakes during the lap. To be honest, the lap was so-so – I couldn’t put it together. In a way I’m even lucky to be starting third. Overall the car has good pace, so there are no serious issues, I just didn’t get the lap right, but I hope I can fix that in the main qualifying.

      We’ll see how the sprint start goes. If I can get a good launch, I’ll try to take the right position. It’s usually not that easy to do into the first corner at this track, but we’ll see how it goes.”