“Decent day” leaves Piastri excited for “very tight” Monaco qualifying
Oscar Piastri started his Monaco Grand Prix campaign on a high after lighting up the timing sheets in FP1, building excitement for McLaren’s expectations ahead of a “very tight” qualifying session in Monaco.
The McLaren driver started the opening hour of practice on a strong note, charging straight into the top spot with a time of 1:14.694s.
He danced within the top ten times for the entire hour session, securing fastest sectors and personal bests before becoming the first driver to don the red-marked tyre.
On the soft tyre, Piastri moved into P6, and later to the top of the order with a new benchmark time of 1:12.618s.
The Australian ended the opening session with the second fastest time, splitting the Mercedes drivers as the chequered flag was waved.
“We ran a set of softs in FP1, you only get a certain amount of sets of softs for the weekend, so we’re trying to prepare for qualifying tomorrow,” Piastri said.
“We thought that, at the time, there was a high chance of rain for FP2, so we wanted to get some softs running in early, but I think that, considering that, it’s been a decent day.”
In FP2, Piastri’s impact on the timing sheets wasn’t as obvious.
His first lap of the session was a 1:15.704s, a time that came as a result of the Australian sliding out of Turn 16.
The #81 also reported that he’d hit the wall, a common occurrence around the tight Monaco streets.
“I’ve been pretty happy with how I’ve driven today, a couple of touches on the walls aside.
“When I touched the wall was in probably the worst place to touch it, in that chicane, so I’ll try not to do that again.
“Just flirting with the walls…”
He made a momentary appearance at the top of the timing sheets, however, ended FP2 in P12.
On his qualifying prospects, Piastri said it will all come down to precision.
“Honestly we could be first and we could be eighth.
“Even Aston looks pretty decent, Alonso looks good, so it could be first, it could be tenth.
“You never know, it’s been very, very tight between everyone today, so we’ll try and tune up the cars for tomorrow, give it a good run and I think it’s going to be exciting.
“I think it’s very much in the drivers’ hands, it looks like there are a lot of quick cars out there, so whoever nails the lap is probably going to end up on pole.”
McLaren will have one more practice session ahead of the most anticipated qualifying session of the year, with FP3 taking place tonight at 8:30 PM, AEST.
Image: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images
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
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