Oscar Piastri has denied claims from rivals that McLaren will be “fast enough to do whatever we want” in his bid to convert pole position in the Formula 1 Bahrain Grand Prix.
Piastri continued his impressive start to his third campaign in the sport as he replicated his table-topping time in China to claim his second pole in three rounds under the lights.
McLaren had been tipped to dominate based on the blistering pace in FP3 that had seen Piastri open up a six-tenth gap as the team completed a clean sweep in practice.
But while the opposition moved closer when it mattered, Piastri ensured that McLaren remained atop the timesheets as he lapped over one-tenth quicker than George Russell.
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri revels in ‘step forward’ with McLaren F1 car amid Lando Norris struggles
Russell had been vocal heading into the weekend that McLaren’s unrivalled tyre management would see its genuine margin revealed in the scorching heat of the desert.
The Briton, who was scheduled to line up alongside Piastri until he was penalised, reiterated that stance as he indicated that McLaren will be untouchable come the race.
“I think they’re so far ahead of everybody,” Russell told media including Motorsport Week. “They can pit early, pit late – they’ll probably potentially overtake us on track.”
Piastri quashes claim over McLaren advantage
Piastri, though, retorted Russell’s assertion, highlighting that Lando Norris missing out on the front row demonstrates that McLaren doesn’t harbour an unassailable advantage.
“I mean, from my side, I’m certainly not shying away from the fact we have the best car at the moment,” Piastri said. “I think to say otherwise is not correct. But it is difficult and the margins are still pretty tight.
“It doesn’t take much of a mistake to lose one or two-tenths, and that’s been the gap more or less. At times we have looked very, very strong – like this morning, for example – but I think when everyone turns up for qualifying, we know that we still have to put our best foot forward. Like we saw in Japan, we didn’t quite get the most out of the car, got pipped by Max [Verstappen]. And today, Lando’s not on the front row, so it’s difficult, definitely.
“I certainly don’t think we’re fast enough to do whatever we want, but we do have a nice advantage at the moment that we’re trying our best to make sure we continue to use week in, week out.”
READ MORE – Why McLaren’s practice advantage was slashed in Bahrain qualifying
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