Damon Hill has one simple question for Oscar Piastri after nightmare Mexican Grand Prix qualifying

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Oscar Piastri could only muster a lap good enough for eighth place on the grid for the Mexican Grand Prix, leading Damon Hill to ask the championship leader one simple question.

Piastri struggled throughout a hot and sticky qualifying session on Saturday afternoon in Mexico City as he just about squeaked into Q3 by just over a tenth of a second to Red Bull’s Yuki Tsunoda.

The Australian reported an issue with his power unit during his final flying lap in Q2, and his subsequent radio messages show just how much pressure Piastri is beginning to feel.

With main championship rival Lando Norris taking pole position and outside contender Max Verstappen starting from fifth, Piastri is going to need a hot start at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in order to claw his way back into things in Sunday’s Grand Prix.

READ MORE: Jacques Villeneuve shares the change he’s seen in Oscar Piastri amid Max Verstappen F1 title threat

Damon Hill questions what happened to Oscar Piastri as he falters in Mexican Grand Prix qualifying

The P8 grid slot marked Piastri’s second-worst qualifying result of the season, with his P9 starting position at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix proving to be the most unwelcome result for the 24-year-old in the current campaign thus far.

With five pole positions to his name in 2025, Piastri has failed to secure one in his previous five appearances.

The season is currently in a crucial period, and now is not the time for the McLaren star to start putting up undesirable results as he looks to claim his maiden title in Formula 1.

Former F1 driver Damon Hill chimed in on Piastri’s lack of a much-needed result during Saturday’s qualifying session, taking to X (formerly Twitter) to share his thoughts on the interesting developments that unfolded.

He wrote: “Bloody hell. What an amazing quali lap from Lando. Also, ‘What a lap!’ indeed. And Ferrari! And Max only 4th.

“And Oscar….what the hell is going on there? Going to be a very tense and significant race tomorrow.”

READ MORE: Andrea Stella admitted something about Oscar Piastri ‘for the first time’ at the Mexican Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri admitted that his lack of pace at the Mexican Grand Prix is a ‘mystery’

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 in the media pen following the conclusion of qualifying, the championship leader admitted that his poor performance at the South American track has stumped him throughout the weekend.

He said: “[The car] feels okay, just no pace, which is a bit of a mystery. It’s been more or less the same gap all weekend. We will have a look at where I was going wrong and… yeah, obviously a bit frustrating.”

The verdict was of stark contrast to McLaren teammate Norris, who was ‘pleasantly surprised’ by the pace he showed during his final flying lap, which was good enough to secure his fifth pole position of the year.

The Brit said, “It was one of those laps where you don’t really know what happened. It felt decent, but then when I crossed the line and saw a 15.5, I was very pleasantly surprised.”

With the front spot of the grid proving to be the least desirable spot of the top four starters in recent Grands Prix at the Mexican circuit, turn one should prove to be fascinating tomorrow afternoon.