Piastri “confident to fight” for Sprint victory from P3

Starting from third, Oscar Piastri is “still confident” he can fight for Sprint victory after losing out to Ferrari and Red Bull, insisting “there’s some things [McLaren] can do better” to increase his winning odds in China. 

Piastri set the tone for his Friday running with a P3 finish in the sole practice session of the weekend, gaining confidence on the resurfaced Shanghai International Circuit in the hours leading up to the all-important afternoon shootout.

Opening a clear-cut SQ1 campaign, the Australian’s first flying lap put a huge interval of over five-tenths between himself, the leader, and the driver in second.

His speedy first effort was his only of the 12-minute session, with McLaren’s calculations allowing the #81 to round out SQ1 in the garage, only dropping to P4.

Round 2 of Sprint Qualifying ended in a similar fashion, with Piastri’s third-placed efforts securing him a direct pathway through to the top ten, with another late reprieve in the pitlane.

“I think, probably [we were] quick at the wrong points, unfortunately,” Piastri said. 

“SQ1 and SQ2 felt good and then, yeah, SQ3 we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and tried two laps which I’m not sure was the best thing in the end.

“I think it’s something we need to have a look at, but yeah, I think the pace in the car is still very strong and I’m still confident to fight from third tomorrow.”

Securing him third on the Sprint grid, Piastri’s final eight-minute campaign had its highs and lows.

The #81 was the first challenger to roll out of the pitlane, leading Lando Norris around the Shanghai International Circuit before winning the intra-team battle with an early benchmark of 1:30.929s.

Remaining out on track for a second and final attempt, the Australian fell short on the established timing sheets after he failed to make improvements across the lap, specifically at the final corner. 

His initial time remained his fastest of SQ3, rewarding him with a third-place start for the 19-lap dash tomorrow in a top three made up of Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, with the three drivers separated by just eight-hundredths.

“It’s been difficult, I think with the track surface—it’s got a lot of grip, but it’s very peaky and I think it’s been pretty tough all day to just keep on top of the car,” Piastri said.

“Honestly, I think we did a good job of trying to tame it for Sprint Quali, just maybe got the run plan a bit wrong.

“It’s been an interesting challenge, the grips been a lot better than last season which is nice but yeah, I think there’s some things we can do better tomorrow.”

For a small teaser of what is to come on Sunday, Piastri will line up alongside Charles Leclerc for the Sprint, targeting a move up on the 315-metre run to the first braking zone when the five lights go out in Shanghai. 

The Sprint action at the Chinese Grand Prix kicks off at 14:00 AEDT.

Image: Formula 1

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