Formula One has made its way down under to Albert Park, and the leading home-hero, Oscar Piastri, has qualified P6 for the racing grid for the race on Sunday.
Piastri will start the race from P5, as a result of Sergio Perez being given a 3-place grid drop for impeding Nico Hulkenberg during Q1.
The Australian driver admitted that qualifying further up was possible, as showcased by his teammate, Lando Norris who qualified P4 for the Grand Prix.
Piastri expressed his frustration regarding his “messy” Q3 run in contrast with his Q1 and Q2 attempts, which were “strong” in his opinion. He had been faster than his British stablemate in Q1 and Q2.
“Mixed emotions to be honest, I think… Q1 and Q2 looked really strong, and in Q3, I just didn’t make it happen.
“A couple of messy laps, which is a bit frustrating.”
Despite not qualifying where he had hoped, Piastri confessed that they did not seem to be too out of position in comparison with the team’s expectations.
“I don’t think we’re massively out of position. A bit frustrating with my own performance, but we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.”
The 22-year-old, in his second season with McLaren, seemed to be cautiously optimistic about MCL38’s race pace in Australia.
“Our race pace looked pretty strong yesterday, so hopefully we can try and use that. Trying to fight the cars ahead of us is going to be tough, but we’ll give it a go.”
However, the Melbourne-born driver realistically admitted that fighting with the top teams in front will be difficult for them.
“I think going after them is gonna be tough, Ferrari have looked incredibly strong all weekend, Red Bull looked earlier a bit shaky today but I don’t think anyone’s that surprised that Max is on pole.
“I think it’s going to be tough to challenge those guys, but I think that’s just where we’re at the moment.”
“As much as I hate to say it, if we can finish where we start, then that would honestly look like a decent result for us.”
