Oscar Piastri believes people must judge Red Bull’s pace relative to its rivals to see “how many sandbags come out” after Friday’s Formula 1 running in Bahrain.
Max Verstappen was the fastest Red Bull driver in both practice sessions on Thursday, but the reigning World Champion languished in sixth on the timesheets.
However, the Dutchman speculated that others around him may have turned up their engines in pursuit to chase lap time.
Piastri, meanwhile, believes that he and McLaren are “where we thought” in regard to the pecking order after he placed his MCL38 third and fifth in FP1 and FP2 respectively.
The more representative nighttime set FP2 session was a melting pot of rival teams toward the top of the competitive order, led by a Mercedes 1-2 with Fernando Alonso’s Aston Martin third, Carlos Sainz’s Ferrari in fourth and Piastri all ahead of Verstappen.
“I think we’re kind of in the mix,” Piastri said. “Red Bull don’t look quite as quick as we thought. We’ll see how many sandbags come out tomorrow. It’s a lot closer than I expected.
“Mercedes look quick, Fernando [Alonso] looks quick. I think we’re sort of around the points, and I think with the teams we’re around, being near the podium or near 10th is very much a possibility so hopefully we can stay towards the front end of that mix.”
Piastri judged the MCL38 to be feeling good both in qualifying and race simulations throughout Thursday’s running but admitted to inconsistencies that the team needs to look into.
“I think there’s some runs that we need to look at in more detail as to why they were, how they were, both good and bad,” he added.
“I think the overall feeling of the day is pretty positive.”
The Australian driver’s team-mate Lando Norris had been pessimistic about McLaren’s prospects heading into the weekend but described practive as “a little bit better”.
The Briton also gauged the pecking order will be close in qualifying on Friday afternoon, but he admits that Red Bull remains a step ahead of the competition.
“I mean, with the wind and everything, everything’s changed a bit today and it’s going to change again on Saturday,” Norris began.
“[The wind] suited some cars and some cars not so much. I think it’s still clear that Red Bull are towards the top.
“Mercedes is always a question mark. They were never going to be bad. So it always gets close. Especially in qualifying, qualifying, everything gets close.”
Norris eluded to the wind – a common presence in the Bahrain Circuit’s desert landscape – having a part to play in qualifying and Piastri delved into that peculiar performance differentiator a little further.
“It always feels a bit pathetic, blaming the wind and stuff,” Piastri said.
“These cars have such a different balance and such a different amount of downforce depending on what the wind is doing.
“Yeah, [the wind] definitely made it tricky out there and I think tomorrow’s more of the same.”
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