Piastri hunting victory: “I’ll do everything I can to achieve that”

Despite a few hundredths of a second standing between Oscar Piastri and a dream Pole position on home soil, the Australian remains confident in his performance this weekend, assuring his fans “If I can stand on the top step, I’ll do everything I can to achieve that”.

Coming into qualifying with session-topping form, the boy from Brighton was a hot favourite to take out the front grid slot for Sunday’s main event.

His teammate, Lando Norris, however, had his own motives, putting together a near-perfect lap of the 5.2km street circuit to secure the converted Saturday award.

The opening 18-minute session of qualifying was easily ticked off by the #81, with Piastri advancing through to the second round as the third-fastest driver.

Q2 was an equally tame challenge for Piastri whose initial time of 1:15.468s saw him sitting as the man to beat early on.

Although he was knocked down a peg, both McLaren boys remained solid in their efforts, rewarding them with a place in the top ten shootout.

Piastri’s initial Q3 run would put him in an awkward situation, with the Australian explaining after the session just what went down.

“I went a bit deep into Turn 11,” he said. 

“With these tyres, with the hot temperature, as soon as you slide them a little bit or get them dirty, they drop off a lot. 

“I struggled a lot with the last sector and then went off at the second-last corner — That’s the fine line around here. 

“I think that’s been a little bit of a struggle with our car so far—it’s been quick, but it bites at times. 

“I’m pretty happy with the job I did, and I’ll go back and see where it could have been a little bit better.”

There wasn’t much more Piastri could have done on his second run as the Australian near-perfected each twist and turn of the Albert Park street circuit, however, it just wasn’t enough to hold the lead position by the time Lando Norris finished his lap.

The Australian’s fastest time of the session, earning him P2 and McLaren a front row lockout, was a 1:15.180s, just nine-hundredths short of the #4’s pole lap time.

“This weekend I’ve been happy with the laps we’ve been putting in and how I have been executing them apart from the first lap of Q3,” Piastri said.

“But apart from that, I’ve been happy with how I’ve driven.”

“I think the last lap, there’s nothing I’m majorly kicking myself about. 

“The gap is very tight, obviously, and I just needed that little bit more.”

Piastri added: “I wouldn’t say I’m disappointed because I feel like I did a job I’m happy with. 

“If I was sitting here thinking, “I had another two-tenths in hand, and I blew it,” then I’d be pretty upset. But I feel like I’ve executed well this weekend. 

“That’s all I can ask of myself. 

“There are always things to improve and do better, and I’ll try to look at those, but ultimately, I’m happy with how I’ve driven this weekend.”

On his chances tomorrow, Piastri is aware of the expectations that weigh on his shoulders, with the Melbourne-born driver wanting to get the job done for his country, but also himself.

“It would be really special to achieve [the win],” he said. 

“I’m not setting my sights too firmly on that, obviously. 

“We’ve got a lot of work to do to maximise the race tomorrow and see what the weather does first, but it would be very special. 

“I don’t really have another way of answering that—it would mean a lot. 

“To have an Aussie on the podium, it hasn’t been done in a while, so that would be a good start. 

“If I can stand on the top step, I’ll do everything I can to achieve that. 

“Putting national pride aside, I want to do it for myself as well. I’ll try my best, obviously.”

Lights out for the Australian Grand Prix is scheduled to take place at 3:00 PM, however, discussions of a delayed start are taking place to avoid significant weather interruptions.

Image: Epic Sports Photography – Peter Norton

Grand Prix week signals the launch for Auto Action’s all-new monthly printed magazine – coffee-table reading packed with in-depth features from around the motorsport world. On sale at newsagents from tomorrow.

A full F1 car by car preview can also be found in the LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION DIGITAL HERE

For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.