Oscar Piastri was unrevealing about whether he would be prepared to sacrifice his race to help McLaren team-mate Lando Norris win Formula 1‘s Monaco Grand Prix.
Piastri was unable to rival Norris’ pole-setting pace in Monte Carlo and his anguish was compounded as Ferrari’s upturn allowed Charles Leclerc to pip him to second.
Having earned a podium in his sophomore race around the iconic streets 12 months ago, the championship leader ventured into this weekend with high expectations.
Piastri has struggled to unlock the same sensation with McLaren’s MCL39 this weekend, though, culminating in head-on contact with the wall at Sainte Devote in FP2.
That incident preceded several near misses with the barriers later on in qualifying, including a brush at Rascasse that caused him to implore his team to check his car.
“It’s been a pretty challenging time until Q3, to be honest,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week.
“But I feel like we got the car in a much better window for qualifying, and I was much happier. But it’s just been a very messy weekend.
“I said before, I think I’ve hit more things this weekend than I have in my whole career.
“So, it’s not been that straightforward, but I think to come out with this result is quite positive.
“The laps I did at the end of qualifying felt pretty good. Obviously not quite enough, but yeah.
“I think at a track like this when you’ve had a messy build-up, you’re always going to leave a little bit on the table.”
Elaborating on the issues he has had with the car this weekend, Piastri explained: “Just struggling with the balance really. Struggling with confidence in the car, I think.
“It’s in a much better place now than it was yesterday for sure, so I don’t think that was necessarily the problem at this point.
“But yeah, I’ve just been struggling to repeat the feeling I had last year through practice really.
“But I think the team did a good job of trying to put the car in a better window, and I think we definitely did that by qualifying.
“But, yeah, definitely some laps I would rather have done again through the weekend.”
Piastri explains margin to Norris
Piastri admitted that his inadequate preparation in the lead-up to qualifying, combined with a minor error on his last run in Q3, created the 0.175-second gap to Norris.
“Quite reminiscent of last year to be honest – my first lap felt good and then the second lap… a mistake in the Harbour chicane and I left a little bit out there,” he said.
“To beat Lando today was going to be tough. Well done to him.
“Still pretty happy. It’s been a pretty messy weekend so far so to come out with a lap that I thought was pretty good in third is a decent result.”
Piastri coy on boosting Norris’ prospects
With all drivers obligated to complete two pit stops during the 78-lap race, Piastri was probed on whether he would be willing to ensure that McLaren wins with Norris.
“I mean, I want to win the race too,” the Australian responded. “So let’s see what happens. I think it’s going to be a pretty chaotic race, but we’ll see what happens.”
READ MORE – Why McLaren used alternative run plan in Monaco F1 qualifying
