“Something was clearly not as it should be” for Piastri in Budapest

Oscar Piastri finished the first day of practice at the Hungarian Grand Prix with a lot of questions, falling off the pace during FP2 leading to a “need to understand what it was that made it so difficult” ahead of qualifying.

Coming into the weekend as the only team not to have upgrades, McLaren’s opening practice session got off to a delayed start on the #81’s side of the garage. 

Piastri spent the first ten minutes of FP1 watching from the sidelines as his mechanics worked on a reliability issue, solving his MCL38’s issues before sending the Australian out onto the scorching Hungaroring.

Starting FP1 on the medium compound tyre, Piastri’s opening push lap was a 1:20.914s, the tenth fastest time. 

The 23-year-old was quick to improve on his time, shooting to a session-high second place with a lap that was just seven milliseconds shy of the benchmark.

Making the switch to the soft compound tyre, Piastri naturally carved into his yellow-marked time as he conducted his first qualifying simulations of the day. 

After finding his way back into the top three on the C5 tyre, the #81 drifted to P7, remaining there until the chequered flag was waved.

He ended the session with a time of 1:25.396s, partaking in a final practice start on the grid before returning to the busy McLaren garage.

“I mean, a mixed day,” Piastri said.

“I think FP1 was pretty good apart from a reliability issue we had at the start.

“Yeah FP2, just need to understand what happened there ‘cause it was… yeah, something was clearly not as it should be.

“Just need to go through that and hopefully we’ll be somewhere towards the front.

“I think the stuff from FP1 was not an issue after that, I think FP2 we sort of need to understand what it was that made it so difficult.”

The ‘something’ Piastri was talking about was only compounded by a wide run through Turn 4, ripping up the front right portion of his floor as he travelled across the unforgiving kerbs. 

The FP2 incident kept his crew occupied as they worked to rapidly fix his MCL38, doing so in a prompt manner which allowed Piastri to make the most of the slightly cooler session.

Prior to the T4 blunder, Piastri and Norris kickstarted their second practice campaigns as the sole hard tyre runners, starting with a heightened focus on race simulations. 

Piastri’s first time of FP2 was a 1:20.083s, putting him not only back on his teammate, but at the back of the pack as he returned to the pitlane. 

Emerging on the same compound, a messy run through the final sector still managed to promote the McLaren driver to P13 with his fastest hard tyre time being a 1:19.614s.

After the Ferrari-induced mid-session Red Flag, run plans up and down the pitlane lined up with the majority of drivers heading out on the soft compound.

A trip across the kerbs at the uphill, blind left-hander that is Turn 4 acted as an extra obstacle in Piastri’s way.

He still set a time of 1:18.618s, eight-tenths behind his benchmark-holding teammate before returning to the pitlane, joined by his peers as a short-lived lull fell over the circuit. 

For the final 10 minutes, Piastri circulated on the hard compound tyre, ending his session with the 13th fastest time after 21 laps.

Looking ahead at his qualifying prospects, the 23-year-old is hopeful that his Friday woes will be just that.

Norris finished FP2 with the fastest time, a 1:17.788s, creating a certain confidence for Piastri to bounce back in the first competitive session of the weekend.

“I think, hopefully, we should be up towards the front [in qualifying],” the #81 said.

“I mean, we looked competitive in FP1, Lando [Norris] looked competitive in FP2, and hopefully we can get both of us back up there tomorrow.”

Free Practice 1 kicks off at 8:30 PM tonight, the final warm-up to an expectedly exciting and tight qualifying session, dictating the starting grid for Sunday’s Hungarian Grand Prix.

Image: Andy Hone / LAT Images

Friday Results:

2024 Hungarian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday July 19th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday July 20th:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday July 21st:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race Start: 23:00

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