Piastri lost “rhythm” from Q2 onwards resulting in P6 qualification
Oscar Piastri will start tomorrow’s Japanese Grand Prix from sixth on the grid, saying that, along with his “competitive” MCL38, strategy and weather will be “interesting factors” in his bid to repeat his maiden podium finish in Japan.
Qualifying had the potential to reward Oscar Piastri with an exciting result, with both McLarens showing an edge of pace in the morning practice session.
Piastri finished FP3 in P8, while his teammate Lando Norris was slightly ahead, ending the final practice in P6.
Come qualifying, Piastri locked in.
The birthday boy was given a not-so-welcomed birthday present to start the session.
Attempting to leave the pitlane, Piastri was abruptly met with George Russell being unsafely released into his path, forcing Piastri to dodge the Mercedes.
Post-session, Mercedes were handed a €5,000 fine for the incident.
Once that had ironed itself out and Russell had fallen into line, Piastri headed off on his opening out lap.
Once completed, the fight for pole position was on.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, during qualifying at the Japanese GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.
The 23-year-old’s first flying lap was fastest enough to claim P3, however, he was still six-tenths back on Max Verstappen’s benchmark, a theme that carried on for all drivers in the session.
Ultimately, Piastri finished the opening 18-minute session in P5.
From there, however, the threat of the McLaren seemingly simmered down.
“I think Q1 looked quite competitive and quite strong for myself. Q2, not quite as much, Q3… yeah, similar kind of story,” Piastri said.
“I think, just lost a bit of rhythm in Q2 and never quite found it again.
“[It will] be interesting to see where I could have improved, but yeah, that’s about it.”
Piastri’s first time in Q2 was a 1:29.148s, four-tenths behind the lead Red Bull and two-tenths behind Norris who was sitting in P3.
After six laps in that session, the chequered flag saw Piastri sitting in P8, three-tenths ahead of his compatriot in the elimination zone.
Q3 wasn’t anything spectacular from anyone besides the Red Bull duo, and that included Piastri’s performance.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, during qualifying at the Japanese GP. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.
The youngster’s fastest time of the session was a 1:28.760s, almost six-tenths behind Max Verstappen’s pole time of 1:28.197s.
Despite the significant margin, Piastri is confident that he and Norris can both secure solid points finishes tomorrow, with his dreams filled with memories of McLaren’s double podium in Japan last year.
“I think our race pace this year has been quite strong,” Piastri said.
“Our car is clearly pretty competitive around here, but so are the cars around us so we’ll see what we can do.
“Strategy could be a big factor tomorrow, the weather could be an interesting factor tomorrow.
“So yeah, we’ll see where we finish.”
Piastri will have Fernando Alonso for company on Row 3, with experience also filling up his mirrors as Lewis Hamilton takes the start behind him.
Lights out for the Japanese Grand Prix will take place at 3:00 PM, AEST, tomorrow.
2024 Japanese Grand Prix
Friday, April 5
Practice 1: 13.30-14.30
Practice 2: 17.00-18.00
Saturday, April 6
Practice 3: 13.30-14.30
Qualifying: 17.00-18.00
Sunday, April 7
Grand Prix: 15.00
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