Piastri “relaxed” despite “surprise” threat from Ferrari at Silverstone

Despite admitting that Ferrari’s session-topping pace came as “a little bit of a surprise”, Oscar Piastri says he’s feeling “pretty relaxed” after finishing in the top three across the opening day of practice at the British Grand Prix.

Instantly getting to work around McLaren’s iconic home circuit, Piastri lit up the timesheets on his first flying lap, setting a purple middle sector as he coasted his way into the initial top three. 

It wasn’t long before his lap became outdated, however, with Piastri falling to P10 before reinstating his McLaren among the fastest competitors by setting a new benchmark of 1:27.761s. 

Sitting in fifth as a brief lull fell over the circuit, Piastri returned to Silverstone Circuit on the soft compound tyre, the chrome livery of his McLaren shining in the sun as he set another fastest middle sector on his way to P1.

His C4 time of 1:27.278s was soon beaten by Leclerc, with the Ferrari driver crossing the line almost two-tenths quicker than Piastri just moments later, though the #81 soon returned the favour by putting 0.053s between himself and the Monegasque to momentarily lead the session once again.

As the soft tyre runs continued to unfold, however, he couldn’t hold onto P1 after the home crowd advantage urged the British drivers to the top of the pecking order. 

Lewis Hamilton and Lando Norris were the Brits who outpaced Piastri’s fastest FP1 time of 1:27.042s, leaving the 24-year-old in third as he switched to race simulations for the final ten minutes of the session.

Taking to the grid for his first practice start of the weekend, Piastri remained in third as the chequered flag brought an end to an FP1 session ruled by the #44 Ferrari.

“[Ferrari’s pace] was a little bit of a surprise, yes,” Piastri admitted.

“I think they looked good, and both in the qualifying runs and the longer runs as well, so yeah, I think they’re in the fight this weekend which is interesting to see.”

The Australian added: “I think [McLaren’s] pace is definitely there and I think, you know, if I can piece things together, it’ll be very competitive.

“Just not a great lap [in practice] and with these tyres around here, you pretty much get one shot, so my second attempt was pretty decent considering the tyres.

“So, I’m pretty relaxed.”

Just as was the case during FP1, gusty wind conditions plagued the second hour of practice — a factor Oscar Piastri was warned of as he kicked off his first stint in FP2 on the popular medium compound tyre.

“[The wind] was tough, it was very tough,” Piastri said.

“You know, I think it’s only going to get worse through the weekend as well, so it’s going to make things pretty interesting.

“But, no, it spiced things up a little bit, especially with so many high-speed corners here, you really feel it a lot so that was making things pretty tough.”

It took the Australian a little while to warm up to the demands of Silverstone Circuit, but when he finally found his groove, it was straight to the top for Piastri, who crossed the line with a time of 1:27.196s.

Sitting three-tenths quicker than Norris, and after a quick trip back to the pitlane, Piastri made his way back out on track with a fresh set of C3s at his disposal. 

On the charge with a 34.8s middle sector, the McLaren driver was just one-hundredth short of the benchmark pace as he crossed the line, though he soon dropped to the back of a tight top three separated by just 0.025s.

At the halfway point of the hour, Piastri made the switch to the soft compound tyre and found himself settling into P2 behind Charles Leclerc, before both drivers’ teammates found an extra level of pace to demote the #16 and #81 to P3 and P4, respectively.

Touring Silverstone Circuit as the fourth fastest driver on track, he reverted to the medium compound for the final ten minutes of FP2, following the same pattern as earlier when he rounded out the hour with a complete focus on race simulations.

With 12-lap-old tyres, the Australian had the fourth-fastest race pace as he lapped Silverstone in 1:32.2s, falling short to only Verstappen, Leclerc and Norris as the session came to a close.

The Australian completed a practice start on the grid before calling it a day, parking the car, which rewarded Piastri with P4 in the McLaren garage after a productive first day of running in Silverstone.

“A good first day, I think,” Piastri said.

“Ferrari have looked very competitive, but yeah, I think we looked alright.

“FP2, the soft tyre was a little bit messy for me, but I think the potential is definitely there and the long runs looked pretty solid as well, so yeah.

“An interesting first day and, I think, a lot of competition.”

With feedback on the day’s work fresh in his mind, with Australian offloaded all of his learn knowledge to his team before heading home for the night, needing a solid night’s rest ahead of the all-important hour shootout to decide the starting order for the British Grand Prix.

The final hour of practice, starting at 20:30 AEST tonight, will allow the drivers to iron out any last-minute complications before Qualifying kicks off at 00:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

2025 British Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 04:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 05:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 06:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Monday, July 07:

Race: 00:00

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