A lot was expected of Oscar Piastri ahead of his first Formula 1 qualifying session, but it all went haywire for the Australian. Although it was clear in advance that the McLaren MCL60 would have problems making it into Q2 at all, 18th place in Bahrain was a disappointment for the rookie.
“Personally, it wasn’t the best qualifying for me. I just made too many mistakes,” he says. However, Piastri was also unlucky, as just as he was on the outlap for his first attempt, the red flag came out. That wasn’t good for the tyres, which were a bit too cold in the first run.
In the second attempt, Piastri had better conditions, but that’s where he makes “too many mistakes,” as he says. “We were competitive in the corners where I didn’t make any mistakes, but because everything is so tight, every little mistake – especially the big ones I made – costs you a lot.”
In the end, he was around two and a half tenths of a second behind team-mate Lando Norris and qualifying for Q2. “There’s a lot more to come from my side,” he asserts.
Despite this, the rookie gets praise from his team boss, who found his performance “impressive”. “Because the snap in turn 2 was huge and cost him two or three tenths of a second. Otherwise, he was not far from Lando, who is of course a strong reference,” says Andrea Stella.
“I’m impressed by his speed, but also impressed by his approach,” he says. “He went step by step, always staying very calm and aware of his strengths and weaknesses as a rookie. It’s a shame that that’s not reflected in the result, but I think Oscar has done very well so far .”
“It takes a little time”
So far in his career, Piastri has always settled into a new series well. The Australian not only won Formula 2 and Formula 3 in his first year, but also won a race in both series on the very first weekend. That should be hopeless with the McLaren, however.
He himself has gotten used to the new car quite well, as he says: “It takes a little time, but I have the feeling that I’ve adjusted well,” says Piastri. “Now it’s about perfecting it and really pushing the limit out of everything. I’m sure we both want the car to get better. We want to fight for wins.”
But both drivers have to contribute to making the car faster. In Lando Norris, he has a teammate who has given similar feedback on the car so far. “From the team’s point of view, it’s very useful to have the same direction,” he says. “But there are also a few things I would like to be able to do that I can’t do.”
“But I think it’s the same for everyone. If everyone had a perfect car, then of course they could drive much faster than the rest of the field,” said the Australian. “I’m just trying to deal with the limitations as best as I can. And whatever gets us lap time is what we need.”