Oscar Piastri’s bid to claim his first victory since August—and reignite his fading Formula 1 title challenge—took another hit on Friday after he qualified only fifth in a rain-soaked Las Vegas session.

With McLaren teammate and championship leader Lando Norris securing pole for the third consecutive race, Piastri now faces an uphill task on Saturday to prevent Norris from tightening his grip on the title. The Briton already holds a 24-point lead with just two rounds remaining and a maximum of 58 points still available after Las Vegas.

Norris has out-qualified Piastri at the last three grands prix and beaten him in the last six, but the 24-year-old Australian remained cautiously optimistic that he could minimise the damage under the Nevada lights.

“There were a few things at the start of the lap that didn’t go great from an operational point of view,” said Piastri, who has now qualified outside the top three for four straight races. “I don’t know how much time there was in there ultimately. But what I can say is there was more out there that we didn’t get to use.”

Piastri, whose last win came at the Dutch Grand Prix in late August, remained confident that McLaren’s pace would allow him to mount a fightback. “We’ve got a good car underneath us that seems to be working well in all kinds of conditions,” he added. “I think we can have a strong race tomorrow and hopefully make up some spots.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella believed Piastri could have qualified as high as third—behind Red Bull’s reigning world champion Max Verstappen—had he not encountered a yellow flag on his final run.

“A little bit of a shame for Oscar, who found a yellow flag on the final lap that would’ve been his fastest,” Stella said. “P3 was possible… P5 is still a good position. I think we have a competitive car this year.”

The Italian noted that Las Vegas had been a historically difficult venue for McLaren, making their improved showing particularly encouraging. “Vegas has been one of the places where we’ve traditionally struggled in the previous two editions, so there has been an important investment in understanding the technical and driving characteristics. We will try to do our best and finish on the podium with both cars.”