Piastri: Qualifying double a “dream” for McLaren

The Australian driver failed to secure his first career pole position (excluding Sprint), but by positioning himself behind his teammate Lando Norris, Oscar piastri provided the essentials. McLaren with a 21-point lead over Ferrari Before this final Grand Prix of the season, the British team controls its destiny, and can do so even better by placing its two single-seaters in front Carlos Sainz, third on the grid. Piastri explained that it took him a while to get into the rhythm during qualifying when the wind picked up, but he managed to raise his game when it really counted, in Q3.

“Today was a bit trickier than Friday night, I think it took us a while to find the right set-up for qualifying, but we managed it in the end. It’s a great result for the team, I’m happy with it. I’d certainly like to do my last lap again, but it’s okay, second is still a good position. For the team, being first and second is a dream at the moment, we’ll see how it comes together on Sunday.”

Tour cancelled, then reinstated!

The young wolf, who won his first two Grands Prix in F1 this season, still had a heated moment during Q3, as his first lap was disallowed for exceeding track limits at the first corner. A situation that was reversed a few moments later, but which ultimately did not have much impact on Piastri, who improved his time to put himself on the front row.

“I didn’t say much at that point, but I was thinking that if I was out of the limits, it wasn’t by much. In the end, you can see that I was within the limits by not much! I was trying to make sure I had a good last lap, it was my fastest lap anyway, but not fast enough to go for pole. It was a bit of a tense moment but it was reassuring to know that the lap was back in place. I wanted to try to beat that time anyway.”

While a third victory this season would delight Oscar Piastri, the Australian does not forget what McLaren is playing for this Sunday: “We will do everything we can to make sure we win the title, that’s the main goal on Sunday. I’m sure we’d both like to win the race, but the whole team will want to win the title. We’ll do everything we can to make that happen, and I’m sure we’ll have fun on Sunday.”

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