Oscar Piastri was not too pleased after Qualifying for the F1 Austrian GP, after he finished the session in P3.
McLaren looked like the team to beat all weekend, and their strong form continued into the early stages of Qualifying with Piastri just a step behind teammate Lando Norris.
However, the Championship leaders’ first run in Q3 wasn’t ideal, and he had to slot into P3.
A yellow flag after a spin from Alpine’s Pierre Gasly compromised Piastri’s final run in Q3, leaving him unable to improve.
The Australian finished Qualifying for the Austrian GP in P3, over half a second adrift from pole-sitter Norris.
Piastri on Qualifying
In the post-Qualifying press conference, Piastri spoke on chasing that last tenth, missing out on his final run, and looking ahead to gaining places in tomorrow’s Austrian GP.
“Yeah, to an extent.” Piastri lamented what could have been.
“I think through all of qualifying, I was missing that last tenth, but not getting the chance to do my final Q3 run was quite frustrating,” he continued.
“Sometimes those things are going to happen.
“I was quite happy that I didn’t lose more spots by not doing that.
“So, third’s still an okay place to start around here.
“You can race around this track, so try and make some progress.”
A difficult track
Despite trailing behind teammate Lando Norris throughout the Austrian GP weekend, Piastri notes that he feels ‘pretty comfortable’ in the car.
The McLaren driver points to the track, noting that the gravel traps on the corner exit call for a cautious approach.
Piastri notes that the Red Bull Ring is not the easiest to master, as it is easy to lose lap time by not taking the corners with precision.
“Pretty comfortable.
“FP1 was a little bit of a messy start, but then I felt pretty good through the rest of practice.
“And qualifying again felt quite good.
“It’s very difficult around here to get that perfect lap because there’s a lot of corners that have gravel on the exit, and you’ve got to be pretty careful there.
“But there’s also a lot of corners that you miss an apex by five centimetres one way or the other, and you’ve lost a couple of tenths easily.
“So, it’s not the easiest track to hook up, even though it’s short, and I just kind of felt like I didn’t quite do that today.
“So, a bit of a shame.”
McLaren’s upgrades
Piastri believes that the upgrades McLaren brought for the Austrian GP didn’t change the car’s feeling, but rather showed in the timings.
The 24-year-old hopes that the pace will be there for the race as well.
“It doesn’t feel that different in the car, but on the timing sheets, it looks good.
“So that’s all we ask for.
“I think the pace this weekend has looked very strong.
“So, hopefully, that translates to tomorrow as well.”
