McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished P4 in the main Qualifying for the F1 2026 Dutch GP, behind teammate Norris in pole and both Mercedes.
As F1 returned for the second half of the 2026 season, Piastri hoped to come back stronger after a few struggles at the start of the year. The Australian finished P6 in the sole free practice session on Friday. He also qualified fourth for the Sprint, but fell back to P5 by the end of the short race.
Although nothing greatly changed results-wise for Piastri later on Saturday, he felt much more comfortable with his MCL40 during Qualifying. He topped the first session with a lap time of 1:12.610. But was bested by Norris in Q2, falling to P2.
In Q3, the warning for rain was imminent in the last minutes. As teams dashed to set a final fast lap, Piastri ended up back in P4, missing out on the front row by only 0.040s.
Piastri on improvements for Qualifying after the F1 2026 Dutch GP Sprint
The McLaren driver spoke about changes applied to the car in terms of energy deployment and overall set-up for Qualifying.
When asked how many improvements the team has made between sessions, Piastri answered: “A few, I think, within the normal realms of what you would change between a sprint and qualifying.”
He admitted: “Clearly we weren’t that strong at the end of the sprint race. So we wanted to improve a bit and hopefully we’ve done that.”
The Australian warned: “We’ll have to wait and see tomorrow.”
Still, Piastri felt satisfied with the car compared to races like Hungary.
“In general, I’ve been much happier with the car this weekend, which has been good.
“I feel like it’s been back into the normal kind of rhythm of having strengths in some corners, weaknesses in others. Rather than just trying to find time everywhere. Which has been nice.”
Piastri: “We still probably lack a little bit of downforce”
After Qualifying, Piastri was also asked if he had any idea why the McLaren was ‘weaker’ in the race.
The driver pondered: “Not scientifically, no. But I think in general we still probably lack a little bit of downforce compared to some of the others. Or at least some balance characteristics.
“I think we rely a lot on the grip from the new tyres to help our balance, and maybe we pay the price a bit more when the tyres get worse,” he further explained. “But that’s just a guess.”
After gaining four points in the Sprint, Piastri arrives at the F1 2026 Dutch GP in P7 on the drivers’ championship. He currently has 96 points and is between both Red Bull drivers, with Verstappen in P6 and Hadjar in P8.
Looking ahead to the main race, last year’s Zandvoort winner concluded: “Hopefully tomorrow we’ve improved. Because if we have the same pace as we had in the sprint, then it’s going to be a difficult race.”
