Oscar Piastri started out strongly his F1 Qatar GP weekend by earning a starting P1 for the upcoming Sprint Race. After leading the way in the earlier FP1, the McLaren driver set strong times during SQ1 and SQ3, saving his best shot for the final, decisive qualifying segment.
A great start to the weekend
The Sprint Race will already be a great opportunity for the Australian driver to try and reduce the gap to his teammate, championship leader Lando Norris. At the moment, twenty four points separate the papaya drivers, and the eight points a win would award to Piastri would definitely advantage him over joint second placed Max Verstappen.
Such a strong result appears to be feasible for young Piastri, who has won all Formula 1 Sprint Races in Qatar he has ever took part in his career. His statistics are also rather impressive for the actual full length races. In fact, during both the 2023 and 2024 seasons he had managed to always finish on the podium, in second and third position respectively. Both races had been won by Verstappen.
Twelve weeks later
Nevertheless, Piastri is glad to be on pole again after a seven races drought, and is feeling positive for the Sprint Race in Qatar set to take place tomorrow. Asked about his car sensations, the McLaren driver said they were positive in a post Sprint Qualifying interview.
“Pretty good. It has been a good day. I think from the first lap we’ve looked competitive and we made some good adjustments into qualifying. Everything felt good.”
In spite of turning in the wrong direction at Turn 4, a manovre which caused him to lose around two tenths, he was able to set the pole winning lap of 1:20.055.
“I think the last lap was pretty solid, except for one pretty big moment, but clearly it was good enough still. So I’m happy.It’s nice to be back on top, so hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
Mercedes will be the ones to watch
The former Alpine reserve driver admitted he is not fazed by the strong display from Mercedes. George Russell will be again a serious contender for pole tomorrow, and could also definitely pose a serious threat to Piastri’s Sprint win quest from P2. Additionally, rookie Kimi Antonelli showed promising signs of speed driving around the Lusail circuit.
“Yeah, not necessarily.I think they looked very quick at the start of practise. So, Mercedes is often a little bit difficult to read. I think at the end it got pretty messy with trying to get a lap in, so I don’t know if Lando got his lap in properly, but not a big surprise”
Piastri concluded by remarking that his goal, as well as the only way he can remain in the championship fight up until the final round in Abu Dhabi, is to “win everything”.
“Yeah, exactly. That’s all I can do and we’ve started on the right note, so hopefully we can keep that going.”
