McLaren second-row lockout fuels Piastri’s confidence in Canada
McLaren continued its streak of exciting results, with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri battling through a tough qualifying session defined by the slimmest of margins to secure an important second-row lockout at the Canadian Grand Prix.
With Norris leading the duo, Piastri will find himself eyeing down the five lights from fourth on the grid.
“A very tight and difficult session but a fun one,” Piastri said.
“I think many people are leaving thinking they could be on pole, and I’m one of them, but that’s a positive sign in terms of pace.”
Although the close session ended in a confident manner, Q1 saw Piastri’s name trickling down into the elimination zone on multiple occasions.
The Australian was confronted with a slow-moving Mercedes and RB across one of his few flying laps in Q1, forcing the #81 to abort that attempt.
After a momentary reset in the pits, he set off once again, looking to improve from P16 and successfully doing so.
He took the chequered flag in P5, a trend he followed in Q2, however, sitting further back on the benchmark time.
When it came down to the top ten shootout, Piastri was eager to cement a banker lap being the first driver to leave the pits.
His time didn’t compare to Verstappen’s 1:12.358s, with the Dutchman setting the provisional pole time on used tyres.
As the remaining drivers returned to the pitlane, Piastri only dropped by, allowing his team to complete some pitstop practice and him the chance to run in clear air around the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
On the predominantly empty track, Piastri set the second fastest lap time, a 1:12.103s that rewarded him with P4 at the chequered flag behind Norris, Verstappen and the pole man George Russell.
“It’s another start towards the front and we’ll see what we can do tomorrow,” he said.
“We have good consistency, and we have the benefit of having two cars starting together, which is always a positive from the strategy side.
“Let’s see what we can do tomorrow.
“I am looking forward to it.”
Lights out for the must-watch Canadian Grand Prix take place at 4:00 AM (AEST).
Image: Patrick Vinet / Sutton Images.
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