Following the Friday practice sessions at F1’s 2025 Abu Dhabi GP, Oscar Piastri’s debrief after FP2 confirmed that the McLaren was in a strong baseline configuration. The Australian spoke about the needing only minor optimisation rather than any major set-up overhaul.
The focus remains on maximising single-lap grip and finding comfort, a crucial task ahead of a high-pressure qualifying session that will define his grid position for the championship decider race.
The challenge for Piastri was magnified as he missed the opening session, FP1, due to the FIA regulations requiring teams to run a rookie driver. In his place, reserve driver Pato O’Ward collected the necessary data for the weekend.
The tyre dichotomy: Medium vs. soft
Piastri identified the primary technical challenge of the session as exploiting the compound performance envelope. The driver spoke about specifically struggling with the soft tyre compound on his inital push lap.
“I mean, I think I got there pretty well on the medium, just the soft didn’t get the most out of the grip on that first time lap. So, finding my feet, I think,” the Australian driver shared.
This disparity suggests a delicate temperature or pressure window required to fire up the soft compound. The medium tyre, which achieved better initial performance, implies the car’s inherent balance in strong. However, fine-tuning the tyre preparation procedure will be essential.
Understanding this narrow operating window is critical, especially since the qualifying session relies on extracting the absolute maximum from the softest rubber on a single lap.
Minimal changes, decent baselines
When discussing necessary car changes, Piastri, after FP2 of the F1 Abu Dhabi GP, confirmed a high level of confidence in the current set-up. He dismissed any need for drastic adjustments. This is a strong indicator of the team arriving at the circuit with a well-optimised baseline.
“I mean, I think it’s more just little details. The car feels like it’s in a pretty decent place. Again, just didn’t get the grip out of it in the first soft lap. So some small tweaks, of course, you know, it didn’t feel perfect out there, but nothing major.”
This suggests that the engineers will focus on marginal gains in the garage, potentially with mechanical settings or small aerodynamic tweaks. They would not need to wrestle with fundamental balance issues. Such minimal intervention reduces the risk of over-optimising the car and pushing it outside the working window before qualifying.
Confidence in the pole fight
Despite the minimal track time and nuances of the tyre performance, Piastri expressed strong confidence in his ability to fight for pole position. The reliance on collecting more laps, rather than diagnosing a fault, freames the final practice as a critical final rehearsal.
“I mean, I think pretty good. I think the car’s looked quick. Just need to get some more laps under my belt and find my feet a bit more, really, that’s all. So yeah, a few more laps tomorrow, a few more sets of tyres, hopefully we’ll be there.”
With the ambient conditions in the final practice session often being unrepresentative of the cooler conditions of qualifying, the team must use the data collected in the twilight session to guide these crucial “little details” that will define Piastri’s starting position for the title decider.
