Oscar Piastri acknowledged McLaren had no chance of outpacing George Russell to pole position during qualifying at the Formula 1 Azerbaijan GP, despite finding some ‘surprise’ pace.
Piastri will start in third behind Russell and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc for Saturday’s race in Baku, with teammate and reigning world champion Lando Norris claiming fifth. It’s the sixth time this season the Australian driver has out-qualified Norris for a Grand Prix.
Piastri welcomes ‘surprise’ McLaren pace
The result comes after a tricky start to the weekend for McLaren, who found themselves some way down the leaderboard during the earlier free practice sessions. The team found additional pace during Friday’s qualifying session, but were no match for Russell, whose dominant lap cleared Piastri by more than eight tenths.
Piastri, however, was pleased by the result, with the team having brought a significant body package upgrade ahead of the weekend in an attempt to boost its straightline speed.
“We found a bit of pace. It’s not the first time that’s happened to us this year,” he said. “We seem like we’re a bit on the back foot through practice.
“We’ve come out in qualifying, and we just find that bit extra. I was pretty surprised to see us one-two after the first lap of Q3, but unfortunately, we had no hope against George.
“I’m happy with how the weekend’s gone so far. It’s never easy around here, especially when it’s so gusty like today, so I’m very happy to be back in the top three.”
Strong winds in Baku can make it difficult to predict the cars’ balances, particularly in exposed parts of the track. Asked how he manages these challenges, Piastri responded: “Honestly, trying to keep it between the lines, the highway lines down the straights, not easy, especially it always sounds so dull talking about the wind in a Formula 1 car, but even when the walls disappear and you get a bit more open, you really get a massive gust, so it’s not easy at all.
“There’s 30- or 40kph difference sometimes between laps, so you’ve really got to be on your toes and adapt on the fly.”
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