Oscar Piastri took home a dominant win for the F1 Qatar GP sprint race. Starting on pole and leading every lap, the Australian driver’s performance in the sprint is an indicator for a potentially strong result to come in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
Recent performance not due to lack of pace
Speaking after the race, Piastri commented positively on his weekend so far, despite the challenges of the physically demanding track.
“It’s been a good weekend so far. I think, everything went smoothly in the sprint there. Happy with how it’s been so far, just need to keep it rolling.”
Before the F1 Qatar GP sprint, Piastri had been on an unusual streak of bad results. In the past four races, he has not been able to finish higher than the top five.
Speaking on this recent trend, the McLaren driver attributed his poor form to a string of unfortunate circumstances, rather than a lack of his own pace. Piastri also shared his love for the Lusail International Circuit, where he won the 2024 F1 Qatar GP sprint as well.
“It’s obviously a very different circuit to where we have been. Much higher speed, much higher grip. But I think the last couple of weekends has just been things going wrong rather than a lack of pace, so to speak. So I think here, everything’s gone smoothly so far and the pace has been strong. It’s a track I’ve enjoyed in the past, so enjoying it again, clearly.”
Still more pace to come for qualifying
Though pleased with his weekend so far, Piastri believes there is still progress to make before qualifying and Sunday’s race. With limited practice time for the sprint format, he shared that the other teams may be able to catch up to the McLaren pace.
“Ideally, if we can find more pace, I think, everyone slowly finds a little bit more through sprint weekend. So you’ve got to try and get every bit out of the car that you can. We’ll try our best to do that. But I think our our base performance seems very strong around here. So it’s more just tuning rather than trying to reinvent the wheel.”
