Close competition is "not a huge shock for us," claims Piastri
Having qualified third on the grid, championship leader Oscar Piastri claims that it was "not a huge shock for us" to see rivals close in on McLaren over a single flying lap.
McLaren displayed strong pace in final practice, but the papaya outfit seemed to struggle a bit in qualifying - at least to their standards.
However, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri put in a great effort on their final lap in Q3 to end up second and third quickest.
Asked to share his sentiments after his qualifying day at Monza, Piastri added: "It was okay. I feel like Q1 was a little bit of a struggle, but then Q2 and Q3 I was pretty comfortable.
"It was a solid lap without being amazing, but I think it’s been clear for us anyway that the competition’s been much tighter this weekend, and also with some unexpected teams and cars.
"So it’s not a huge shock for us, but I felt like I managed it pretty well, just ultimately lacking a little bit at the end.
Piastri was forced to sit out the opening practice on Friday as part of the sporting rule that requires drivers to hand over their cars to a rookie driver in two FP1 sessions.
"It’s always hard to know how much it costs, but it’s definitely not what you would choose to do.
"Obviously, it’s in the rules, but I think there are worse tracks to miss for an FP1, so I don’t really want to put too much of it down to that.
Pressed on to reflect on his rhythm in his MCL39, Piastri said: "I think Q1 was a little bit tricky to get into the rhythm, but Q2 and Q3 I was pretty happy. I feel like I put in good laps that were clean and improved every lap I did.
"There are a couple of corners that I would probably like to do again, but I think it’s rare that you leave a qualifying session not having that feeling. So I’m pretty happy.
Signing off with a word for his expectations for Sunday’s Monza race, the championship leader said: "I think reasonably confident. It is generally a strength of ours, but it didn’t look night and day above everyone else yesterday.
"So let’s wait and see. It’s a track where slipstreams make a big difference. The start can be pretty chaotic. So I think there’s going to be a few factors at play apart from just pure pace.
