"It could have been worse" - Oscar Piastri expected bigger Ferrari gain in Las Vegas

Oscar Piastri felt that McLaren would have lost out more in the F1 constructors’ championship to Ferrari at the Las Vegas Grand Prix.

Ferrari were only able to finish third and fourth amid Mercedes’ surprise return to form in Sin City.

Mercedes took a dominant 1-2 finish with George Russell controlling the race from pole position.

Teammate Lewis Hamilton finished second after slicing through the field from 10th on the grid.

McLaren endured a tough weekend, finishing sixth and seventh with Lando Norris and Piastri.

With two rounds to go, McLaren’s lead in the constructors’ is 24 points.

Speaking after the race, Piastri admitted Ferrari’s gain in the championship “could have been worse”.

“We knew that this would probably be a trickier track for us and we expected Ferrari to be strong,” Piastri said as quoted by F1's official website.

“It’s of course not ideal that they’ve gained some points on us but I think we expected it could have been worse.

“Let’s see – it’s obviously going to be tight to the rest of the year but hopefully Qatar’s a good weekend for us.”

For Piastri, it was a tough weekend.

He was out-paced comprehensively by Norris in the race, although his chances of a better result were thwarted by a five-second penalty for a false start. 

“I didn’t think I was that far forward but clearly I must have been. I don’t think it changed much,” he added.

“Yes, it made the early part and the middle part of the race a bit more difficult, but I don’t think it affected the result. We just weren’t quick enough, so some things to look at for sure.”