Piastri “a little disappointed” after missing out on front-row start

Oscar Piastri says a win is “definitely still on the cards” despite wanting “a little bit more” from Qualifying at the Dutch Grand Prix, with the McLaren driver set to line up from P3 for tonight’s main event. 

In a session that rewarded his teammate with an extremely dominant pole position, Piastri was not content with settling for third place.

Relatively on par with Lando Norris’ pace during the first competitive session of the weekend, an unsatisfying final attempt made up of a slower middle sector cost the #81 a chance to launch from the front row.

But prior to his last-ditch attempt, the entire session was ruled by McLaren.

In Q1, Piastri rose to the elusive top position following the first round of laps, and although drifting slightly down the order, Piastri’s team was strong enough to occupy P2 and P3 before forming part of a top four that was separated by less than two-tenths. 

One lap was all Piastri and Norris needed to advance to the top ten shootout, emerging for a single lap before spending the remainder of Q2 in the garage, giving them extra time to prepare for Q3.

When the light went green for the final session, Piastri headed the last-ditch charge.

Clearing all 14 corners with ease, the #81 set the time to beat, a 1:10.193s that ultimately fell short to Norris by over a tenth.

Max Verstappen’s messy cornering at Turn 13 gave Piastri a little bit of breathing room in the opening minutes, but when it came to the final charge, he just couldn’t hold on to P2.

“I think the first part of the lap was pretty good, and then, yeah, I don’t know if I got a bit of a gust of wind or I just took it not as good but yeah, it just went away from me a bit in the second half of the lap,” Piastri said.

“A bit of a shame ‘cause I felt like I was driving well.

“The last lap didn’t feel terrible, just a little bit here, a little bit there, and the gap suddenly adds up.

“Still a decent starting position for tomorrow to try and bring in a lot of points, but yeah, of course, we wanted a little bit more.”

Piastri’s fastest lap of the session was a 1:10.172s, with a yellow middle sector leaving him five-tenths behind the pole-man at the chequered flag.

He will launch off the line from P3, with Mercedes’ George Russell for company on Row 2.

But despite missing out on a McLaren front-row lockout, Piastri isn’t discouraged for his Sunday hopes, believing a lot more than just a decent haul of points could be possible. 

“[The win] should be [on the cards], I hope,” he said.

“Let’s see, I think, you know, it’s obviously a much shorter run to Turn 1 here, so we’ll see what’s possible there. 

“I think us and Max [Verstappen] have got different tyre options for tomorrow so let’s see if that comes into play but no, I think it’s definitely still on the cards.”

Lights out for the Dutch Grand Prix will take place at 11:00 PM tonight, with rain unlikely to impact Piastri’s 72-lap battle for the top step. 

Image: Andrew Ferraro / LAT Images

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