Oscar Piastri qualified third for the Japanese Grand Prix on Saturday. The Australian was only outpaced by his teammate Lando Norris and a rampant Max Verstappen. The Dutchman clinched pole position at the last moment. For Piastri, the third starting position is a disappointment, although he and Norris are well-positioned to challenge Verstappen for the win.
“The entire qualifying felt good, especially at the start of Q3,” Piastri commented afterwards. In the opening phase of the final session, the Melbourne native dominated the time sheets. Only towards the end was he outperformed by Norris and then Verstappen. “Unfortunately, my last lap didn’t turn out as I had hoped,” Piastri explained, who only slightly improved his own time in the final phase.
Rain Race?
“Of course we have all the chances tomorrow, but today I may not have fully utilized them,” he sighed. “We’ll just try again tomorrow. I think we can challenge Max (Verstappen), we have the pace. That being said, I think the others are not as far behind as some people might think. You don’t know which engine modes they have used in the past few days, etc. It’s very close, so this is not such a big surprise.”
“Max obviously did a fantastic job, but we still have a very good car and certainly take things towards a possible victory,” Piastri concluded. With a potential rain race in mind, the Australian sees opportunities for McLaren. “Whether it’s going to rain or not, I don’t really care. Our car is strong under all conditions, so I’m not really worried about that.”
