Piastri not fazed by ‘stop-start’ Friday

Oscar Piastri is not concerned by the early speed of Lando Norris in Zandvoort, believing the true pecking order wont be on show until closer to Qualifying.

On a dramatic Friday that produced no less than eight separate incidents as drivers found their feet around the punishing Zandvoort following the summer break, Piastri stayed out of trouble.

The championship leader had a solid day in the #81 McLaren, finishing second and third without incident on the track.

The only cause for concern was in the pits when Piastri had to rejoin the fast lane after slightly misjudging his entry into the McLaren pit box and had a close call with George Russell.

McLaren was fined for the incident as Piastri avoided a sporting penalty.

Despite teammate and title rival Norris being 0.292s and 0.089s ahead, Piastri is not concerned.

He usually builds into weekends as they progress, and he feels things won’t be truly representative until closer to qualifying with Aston Martin showing speed.

“I honestly have no idea,” Piastri replied when asked about the pecking order.

“We need to look back and see who finished where in FP2.

“A bit surprising to see the Astons up there but they were quick in Budapest.

“Today was a bit strange. A bit of weather around that spiced things up a little.

“I think everyone did not really know when to use the tyres when it was dry or wait longer and take fuel out.

“There were a lot of things that were not as expected so I think tomorrow will be the only time where we will see where everyone is at.”

Piastri feels confident his 61 laps of running on Friday has put him in good stead for bigger things to come as the Dutch Grand Prix progresses with weather in the air.

“It was a pretty good day overall,” he said.

“We improved a few things throughout and found more lap time and confidence which is always nice.

“There are still some things to tidy up on as there normally is on a Friday, but overall it felt a positive day back.

“It has been reasonably easy to get back into things.

“Over the first couple of laps, everything feels a bit quick, especially around here, because it is a track that bites if you overstep the mark.

“It was a little bit stop-start with the red flags and things, but we kept chipping away.”

Image: McLaren

2025 Dutch Grand Prix schedule (AEST)

FP1: 1 L. Norris 1:10.278 2 O. Piastri +0.292 3 L. Stroll +0.501

FP2: 1 L. Norris 1:09.890 2 F. Alonso +0.087 3 O. Piastri +0.089

Saturday, August 30

Practice 2 – 0.00-1.00

Practice 3 – 19.30-20.30

Qualifying – 23.00-0.00

Sunday, August 31

Grand Prix – 23.00

Read the new issue of Auto Action Digital HERE

Buy the new issue of Auto Action Premium HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here or you can purchase a copy of the latest issue from one of our outlets here.