The MCL38 is clearly the car to bet on this race weekend, as both McLaren drivers managed to make an appearance in the top three of Dutch Grand Prix qualifying. While Oscar Piastri steadily built on his confidence throughout Q1 and Q2, a messy final run in Q3 ruined his chances of challenging his teammate for pole position. His lap time of 1:10:173 put him half a second behind Norris, and he is set to start from third on the grid tomorrow.
Despite missing out on a front row, Piastri acknowledged that there were several positive takeaways from the session. While he was disappointed not to capitalise on the car’s full potential, the Australian driver appeared quite optimistic about the opportunities his starting position might lead to.
“I didn’t crash like last year, so that was good! No, I think until the last lap, it was pretty good. Obviously, I think with the pace we had with the car today, I think P3 is not exactly a result to be jumping up and down about.
“But no, I think the rest of qualifying was pretty good. It all ran smoothly and I think a lot of those things were positive, just didn’t quite nail it when I needed to at the end. So a bit disappointing there, but we’ve still got a lot of opportunities starting from where we are.”
Furthermore, Piastri refused to entertain the speculation that the huge upgrade package they have brought to Zandvoort has made him feel less comfortable in the car than Norris. Chalking his Q3 result up to his own inadequate performance, the one-time race winner stated that in spite of the massive step forward in performance they have taken since last year, he finds the car extremely familiar.
“No. I mean, to be honest, the car feels very, very similar. I think, you know, we’ve improved the car like a second and a half since last year or something crazy, and it doesn’t feel that different. So I don’t think it’s anything to do with that.
“I think simply Lando did a good job in the last run of Q3, and I didn’t do as good a job as I should have. So, yeah, I think it’s just simply down to that.”
When asked how he was planning to approach the race tomorrow, Piastri replied that he was intent on nailing the start and optimising the strategy. With Verstappen having different options to play with in terms of tyre allocation, the 23-year-old divulged that he hopes to use McLaren’s underlying pace advantage to gain a position or two over race distance.
“I think try and, of course, get a good start. That would be the first plan. And, yeah, strategy could be an interesting thing tomorrow. So we’ll see.
“I think Max has got slightly different options to us. So, yeah, let’s see what we’ve got. But I think we’ve got a very quick car underneath us, and hopefully we can use that on my side to go a bit further forward.”
With regard to the question of whether he would help his teammate hold position at the start, Piastri confidently conveyed that he would not hold himself back. However, he also added that he has no specific procedure in mind to orchestrate these moves, despite his aspiration to win the race himself.
“I mean, if I can get myself into the lead, then that works well for me. But, yeah, I mean, I think the start is always a good opportunity to make up ground if you can. Yeah, obviously I want to finish as high as I can. And, yeah, if I can get into second, then obviously that makes life a little bit more straightforward for the team.
“But I mean, I’m not going to do anything specific to try and make that happen. I want to try and win the race myself. And let’s see what I can try and do.”
Piastri offered further clarification in this regard and declared that the rules haven’t changed since his fairly dramatic maiden win at the Hungarian Grand Prix, amidst the team orders controversy. While they have to keep an eye on the constructors’ title and refrain from taking needless risks, the Melbourne native disclosed that they are free to race each other for the win.
“Yeah, the rules are very, very clear and haven’t changed. And yeah, we’re free to race each other to try and win. Of course, we’re in a Constructors’ Championship fight and we know that there’s a lot at stake for the team.
“But we’ve shown time and time again that we can race each other well, race each other cleanly. And yeah, we’re free to try and both win the race. And that’s not changed.”
