Oscar Piastri believes that he would have been in contention to take pole position at Formula 1‘s Singapore Grand Prix without “terrible” execution on both his Q3 laps.
Lando Norris continued McLaren‘s impressive run as he translated his practice dominance into pole position, but Piastri rued ending up four-tenths back in fifth place.
The Australian had been on provisional pole as he was among the select few who managed to reach the line prior to Ferrari‘s Carlos Sainz shunting at the final corner.
But although his closing attempt was again on the pace, Piastri lamented minimal errors in the last sector as Max Verstappen and the Mercedes drivers demoted him.
“I think through practice it was a big struggle to be honest,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week. “I had no pace; through qualifying I felt quite comfortable.
“Was feeling much better with the car and Q2 was strong. Even Q3, just both my laps were terrible.
“The last one was looking good and a little bit quicker than what I’d managed in Q2, which would have put me well in the fight for pole.
“But yeah I just had a bit of a moment towards the end of the lap and with these tyres this weekend, you have one little moment and it destroys your lap. Frustrating.”
Piastri attributed his noticeable time loss in the last sector to a moment exiting the right-hander at Turn 14 which saw him haemorrhage time down the entire straight.
“I think it was just that one moment,” he recalled. “Felt like I had used them [the tyres] earlier in the lap but not crazily.
“Just out of Turn 14 I had a massive amount of wheelspin, [Turn] 16, 17, nearly ended up in the wall. All from that wheelspin moment. Disappointing.”
Piastri highlights Singapore set-up changes
Piastri had been lagging behind Norris through the three practice sessions, but a convergence on set-up with his team-mate had him sensing that the pace was there.
“We’ve had a few set-up differences for the cars across the weekend,” he explained.
“We’ve gradually come closer and I’ve been feeling much more comfortable with it today.
“Even FP3 when gap was big, I felt in a much better place. Through qualifying honestly I felt comfortable it was just the execution of my lap was not good enough.
“It’s been a much bigger catch-up game than I would have liked, but I felt like I was there when I needed to be. Just didn’t do it.”
McLaren underlined earlier this month that Norris, who is 32 points above Piastri, will be prioritised in certain scenarios as he attempts to reel in Verstappen’s margin.
Piastri has stressed that the anguish over his errors was centred on not maximising his own chances, despite acknowledging he’s not in the ideal place to help Norris.
“I’m not out there to qualify to help Lando, I’m out there to qualify the best I can,” he argued. “And best for the team.
“Naturally if I’m right behind Lando then it helps him, that’s not the case today. But much more frustrating for myself, for the team.
“Fortunate that [Sergio] Perez and the two Ferraris are still behind me. That’s a very small win in what’s been a frustrating evening.”
Piastri braced to endure frustrating race
Piastri has conceded that Singapore’s tight and twisting streets will make it a challenge to make up places in the race to be able to utilise McLaren’s strong race pace.
“We’ll try our best [to overtake the Mercedes cars],” he insisted. “The race pace should be good.
“Just not the easiest track in the world to overtake. So we’ll see what we can do.
“Not quite as many big braking zones as Baku to work some magic so I’ll see what I can do.”
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