Lando Norris’ pace was clear for all to see this past weekend at the Dutch Grand Prix. However, whereas the driver of the number 4 car claimed his second-career grand prix victory, his teammate Oscar Piastri did not even make it to the podium and finished P4. The Australian regretted his qualifying performance putting him in such a position when really – with the car on track which the team had – a 1’2 McLaren finish was certainly a realistic possibility.
Having qualified P3, Piastri still had a strong opportunity but just like his pole-sitter teammate ahead, the McLaren had wheelspin when the lights went out at Zandvoort and lost track position as a result of it. George Russell was the driver to benefit and instead Piastri was sat in P4 by the end of Turn 1.
Piastri was asked if being stuck behind Russell was the story of his afternoon and the key factor for his race.
“Yes, I think that’s one part of the puzzle,” the 23-year-old replied. “Realistically, it started with qualifying, just not being competitive enough when it mattered. The start obviously didn’t help things but it just kind of boxed us in a little bit.
“I think the pace in clean air was quite strong and clearly the car was quick today. Just I spent about 60 of the 70 laps within a second of the car in front, so that made life pretty painful.”
Despite being jumped by Russell at the start, it would be the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc which would cross the finish line P3 as the prancing horse surprised everyone with their speed.
“Even in the first stint, it wasn’t straightforward to keep Leclerc behind and then in the second stint, it was a bit stronger than I expected still. So, a little bit surprising. Days like this happen with these cars, it seems.”
The McLaren driver then reflected on how inconsistent form and unexpected high levels of performance have been seen from his team as well this season.
“Even for ourselves, there’s been a few races like that, and some races where it can be the opposite as well, where you have a really strong Saturday and then Sunday it’s just not quite the same.”
McLaren had a fast car at Zandvoort which was no doubt helped by six considerable upgrades including changes to the front suspension, floor edge, and rear wing.
“Clearly, the car is very quick. I think even for myself in clean air, I felt pretty strong.” explained Piastri. “I think ultimately this weekend I don’t think I was at Lando’s level. So, there’s definitely some things to work on there but I think being stuck behind traffic made my afternoon, made my weekend, look a more painful than it was in terms of pace.”
Norris cruised to victory and finished over 20 seconds in front of 3-time F1 Drivers’ Champion Max Verstappen. Meanwhile, his teammate having finished P4 summarised his own weekend’s performance.
“I think just not being consistently good enough. There was definitely moments of the weekend where I felt very strong and very comfortable,” Piastri claimed, and a comment supported by the fact his race day lap times came close to Norris – when driving in free air.
“Friday was pretty strong, especially over one lap. Even qualifying was looking very strong, just I didn’t find enough on the last lap of qualifying and then, yeah, that made life a bit more painful. Accompanied by a bad start today, it really kind of set the tone for the afternoon.”
Next up on the F1 calendar is a trip to Italy and with races coming thick and fast, there is less than a week to wait for the next on track encounter.
“When your team-mate wins by 20 seconds, clearly there’s things to work on and improve, so I’ll try and make sure that I’m back in the game next weekend.” concluded Piastri.
Should Norris’ teammate ‘be back in the game’ next weekend, this could prove even more of a headache to Red Bull Racing who now lead the F1 Constructors’ Championship by just 30 points over their closest rival McLaren.
The season many labelled as being predictable continues to show that this is far from the case.
