Piastri excited by “chance of winning” in Monaco

Oscar Piastri is heading into the Monaco Grand Prix with an aura of prestige confidence, saying a win could be on the cards after McLaren’s complete upgrade package drew the team closer to the top step in Imola.

The Australian showed promising signs over the past weekend, qualifying in P3 before receiving an unfortunate grid-place penalty.

Piastri ended the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix in an unchallenged fourth place, splitting the Ferraris who have now become familiar rivals.

As for this weekend’s outing in Monaco, the historic circuit poses a new opportunity for the McLaren driver and his team who are sporting a Senna tribute livery for the event.

Speaking on Thursday, the Australian was not shying away from his hopes of a podium finish, or even win, come the chequered flag on Sunday.

“No matter where you go, it’s always exciting knowing that you’ve got a chance of winning,” Piastri said.

“Here obviously is probably one of the places higher up on the list of where you want to win, but I don’t think we’re getting ahead of ourselves. 

“We know we’ve got a very firm competition in Red Bull and Ferrari around us and it’s certainly not a given that we’re going to be the quickest. 

“So, still a lot of hard work. 

“I think it’s exciting knowing that we can be in that position like we have been the last couple of weekends, but it’s obviously very different around here compared to Miami and Imola so we’ll wait and see.”

Although fuelled by optimism, the 23-year-old said the team remain realistic following recent, unexpected performance advancements at tracks like Miami.

After recovering time in high-speed corners towards the end of last season, the opening stint of 2024 has allowed McLaren to focus on their low-speed performance, with the team making “good gains” across the board.

“There’s never a guarantee with any of these things about being quick, or on top of things, but I think our strengths are definitely becoming more well-rounded.

“Hopefully we can show that this weekend as well.”

At the iconic Monte Carlo-based event, Piastri’s approach remains unchanged but excited as the prospect of the most challenging qualifying session of the season lies ahead.

Additionally, the #81 can expect to run a longer Saturday session than last year, having never made it to Q3 in Monaco before. 

“For me qualifying around here is a special day, a special session,” Piastri said.

“I think for everyone involved – for the drivers, you put everything on the line, it’s the ultimate lap of commitment and for the fans, they see that as well. 

“There’s no whether you’re in a white line or not, it’s whether you’re in a wall or not. 

“And for people to be able to see just how close to the limit everyone is I think is very exciting and watching a good lap around here is one of the most exciting things you can witness in motorsport I would say.”

The Australian managed to secure the final points-scoring position during the event last year, starting the Monaco Grand Prix from P11 after being knocked out of Q3 by 18 milliseconds to his teammate.

This weekend should be a much more positive outing, with McLaren now joining the top-ranked teams in a six-way fight for a place on the podium.

“We’ll try and get some silverware, that’s always fun. 

“But the approach to the weekend is still the same.”

The opening practice session of the Monaco Grand Prix kicks off at 9:30 PM, AEST.

2024 Monaco Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, May 24th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, May 25th:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, May 26th:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race: 23:00

Image: Glenn Dunbar / LAT Images

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