Piastri reveals how he bounced back to beat Norris
Although Lando Norris had looked untouchable across the practice sessions, championship leader Oscar Piastri bounced back in the closing stages of qualifying to secure pole position for Sunday’s Dutch Grand Prix.
McLaren has looked untouchable throughout the entire weekend. Lando Norris topped all three practice sessions before Oscar Piastri snatched the pole position away in the all-important moment.
Although Max Verstappen came close to McLaren with his final qualifying lap, the Woking-based squad managed to secure their 69th front row lock-out, surpassing Ferrari for second on the all-time list behind Mercedes’ 82.
Asked to reveal how his pole lap felt in the cockpit, Piastri noted: “It felt pretty good. You know, not perfect, but I think with the wind being so strong, there are some places that are never going feel perfect.
“So, it felt good and a good improvement from pretty much every other lap I did this weekend. So, it was nice to be able to pull it out then. But yeah, it took a lot of hard work, some patience in trying to find the time, and eventually I got there.
Having trailed his team-mate Lando Norris all weekend long, Piastri fought back in the all-important moment to secure his fifth pole position of the season.
“You know, little tweaks here and there, but I think just trying to — I think in qualifying when you get a few more goes at it, a few more sets, naturally it’s a little bit easier to find a little bit more.
“Obviously, the pressure is much higher than practice. But yeah, just felt like this weekend took a lot of attempts to try and improve in some places and eventually it was just enough attempts. So yeah, just trying to drive faster, essentially.”
Piastri continued: “I think the pace this weekend has been very strong. FP3 seemed very, very strong and I knew that the car wasn’t the problem. It was just that it was taking me a while to improve in some places. So, yeah, the team’s done a great job in firstly putting the car in a good place for me and also helping me improve myself.
With Pirelli having brought softer compounds than in previous season, Piastri has revealed that McLaren might have a slight strategic advantage in the race.
“don’t know yet. The tyre strategies from everyone are a bit different. I think us two are one of the only teams to have two Hards and a Medium. I think pretty much everyone else has just one Hard and one Medium.
“So, we’ve got that kind of up our sleeve, but it also kind of tells you a little bit of what most people are thinking, I guess. So, we’ll wait and see, but we’ve got some options available.”
