Oscar Piastri explained where he lost ground to Lando Norris in qualifying for the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix, eventually being the wrong side of a McLaren front row lockout.
The Australian was holding supremacy in the team across Friday, and despite not winning the Sprint Race, finished second ahead of Norris.
But qualifying for the main Grand Prix was a different story, with Norris coming out on top to take pole position, the Australian having to settle for second.
After the session, Piastri told media including Motorsport Week that he rued his lap becoming a little clumsy, losing time at Turn 14, and when asked how much time he lost, he replied: “A lot, enough, yeah.”
When pressed if he felt it cost him pole, Piastri replied: “I think so, yeah. The lap until that point was, was strong, but it doesn’t really matter if you could have done it.
“I didn’t, so a bit disappointing. I think both the laps in Q3 were a little bit like that, but yeah, that’s how it goes sometimes, unfortunately.
“So, a bit of a shame, but the car was great again and I felt like I was in a reasonably good flow, just didn’t quite happen on the second lap.”
Piastri ‘has as much confidence’ as he did for Sprint Race
Piastri said that his MCL39 felt similarly strong for him compared to his Friday showing, saying that his mistake was purely the difference on Saturday.
“In all honesty, felt very similar,” he said. “You get a few more laps on Softs, you explore the limits a bit more, you push the limit a bit more, maybe today that probably bit, um, but it, still felt very good, and I had just as much confidence as yesterday, so, yeah, it definitely wasn’t that.”
When asked if he will be able to stick into Norris’ slipstream to get a good run at him on the opening lap, he replied: “I mean, let’s see. If it’s dry, then yes, if it’s wet, then it obviously adds in some other challenges too.
“But we’ll have to wait and see what the weather does first. I know what I’m hoping for.”
READ MORE – How Lando Norris overturned six-tenth deficit to beat Oscar Piastri to F1 Belgian GP pole
