Piastri admits “surprise” at McLaren’s pace after qualifying P3

After qualifying third under the Marina Bay floodlights, Oscar Piastri admitted McLaren’s lack of pace came as “a little bit of a surprise” last night, leaving both him and the team uncertain heading into a physically demanding Singapore Grand Prix.

Armed with confidence, Piastri bided his time before joining the fray in Q1, slotting in just behind teammate Lando Norris as the clock wound down at the start of the opening session.

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His first flying lap was cut short when yellow flags appeared at Turn 1 — triggered by a car darting into the run-off to clear his path — leaving Piastri unimpressed. 

“You can’t give a yellow flag for someone getting out of the way,” he radioed in frustration.

Regrouping swiftly, the Australian delivered a composed response, logging a time of 1:30.440s to sit sixth. 

A further improvement on his final run trimmed another tenth off his time, sealing a calm route into Q2 after a stop-start opening segment.

“Anytime on a street circuit you don’t do laps is frustrating, and I did feel like through Q1 I was playing catch-up a little bit,” Piastri said. 

“But ultimately, it didn’t really affect much. 

“It was obviously frustrating to have a yellow flag thrown for someone getting out of the way. 

“There’s been a lot of adjustments on the yellow flags and stuff like that, but I think there’s still some tweaking to do there, because Alex [Albon] did the best job he could to get out of my way, and it ended up costing me a lap anyway. 

“So, some things to look at there.”

Maintaining a composed rhythm, Oscar Piastri opted for patience once more in Q2 as he was the final driver to roll out of the pitlane in Q2.

On his first attempt with used soft tyres, he found immediate pace — lighting up with a purple middle sector and stopping the clock at 1:29.823s, just seven hundredths off the session’s early leader.

After a quick tyre change for a fresh set of softs, Piastri returned to the track with four minutes remaining. 

His final effort found only a marginal improvement of ten milliseconds, though it hardly mattered, as the McLaren driver eased comfortably into the top ten shootout.

The barriers could barely contain Piastri’s opening push, the McLaren skimming the walls through the final sector as he set an initial time almost four-tenths off the benchmark. 

Later admitting that he was unaware of the contact, the Australian returned to the pitlane sitting P3 on the timesheets.

“I think my first lap of Q3 felt reasonable,” Piastri said.

“It certainly didn’t feel four-tenths off bad. 

“So, I just don’t think we had the pace tonight, which is a little bit of a surprise for us. 

“It has been very tight through all of practice, but I think we were relatively confident going in. 

“So, yeah, some things to look at and see where we’re lacking, but we’ve not had the easiest last couple of weekends. 

“So, it’s not a huge surprise in some ways because of how it’s gone recently, but I do think we felt after practice we had a better chance.”

With a 1:29.524s on the board, a brief calm in the pitlane preceded Piastri’s final charge for pole, though his earlier lap would remain his personal best as track improvements proved elusive.

It sealed a front-row-adjacent start for the Singapore Grand Prix, with Piastri hailing a “clean” session that earned him third on the grid — two places clear of title rival Norris — as McLaren eyes the constructors’ crown on Sunday.

“I hope [to make progress in the race], but it’s very tough to overtake around here,” Piastri said. 

“You need a fair bit of extra pace to get past someone. 

“So we’ll see if we’ve got that tomorrow. 

“But the long running has been kind of tough for everyone with red flags, and no one’s really done that much. 

“So I wouldn’t say we’ve got more confidence than we had going into qualifying for the race, but we’ll see what’s possible.”

Piastri will line up on Row 2 alongside Kimi Antonelli, with the Mercedes rookie unable to replicate his Q2 form after falling just 0.013s shy of the McLaren driver to settle for P4.

Norris, meanwhile, endured a subdued evening in P5, leaving Piastri poised to further extend the gap in the drivers’ standings, while McLaren’s constructors’ crown looks all but sealed, barring any late drama under the Marina Bay lights.

With 62 laps of heat, humidity, and high stakes ahead, lights out for the Singapore Grand Prix night race gets underway at 23:00 AEST.

Image: McLaren

2025 Singapore Grand Prix Schedule (AEST):

Friday, October 3rd:

FP1: 19:30 – 20:30

FP2: 23:00 – 00:00

Saturday, October 4th:

FP3: 19:30 – 20:30

Qualifying: 23:00 – 00:00

Sunday, October 5th:

Race: 23:00

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