A week after the mistake made on the formation lap, which did not allow him to take part regularly in his home GP, Oscar Piastri took to the track in the Sprint qualifying for the Chinese Grand Prix. Author of a personal best time of 1:32.224, the McLaren Australian will start from fifth position on the grid, sandwiched between the two Ferraris of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc.
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A result that partially satisfies #81, who on one hand recognized his team’s progress (as evidenced by the 3° place of reigning world champion Lando Norris) in a qualifying session entirely dominated by Mercedes: “My last attempt was decent, the step forward from mediums to softs was big – he commented to official F1 channels – but the gap from the Mercedes remains quite impressive, so we definitely need to try and work on it. The car gave decent feelings.”
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McLaren which, according to Piastri’s indications, gave good feedback in a certain part of the Shanghai track, only to then no longer keep up with the pace of the Mercedes. An aspect that the Woking-based team will analyze on the eve of the Sprint race, scheduled for tomorrow at 4:00 Italian time: “In the first sector we were doing well, but then the gap in the last sector is truly impressive, so we need to understand how to further maximize our performance ahead of the Sprint qualifying and tomorrow’s Sprint.”
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