Oscar Piastri explains frustration after BEST EVER session result

Piastri voor de race op de Hungaroring — Photo: © LAT Images

Belgian Grand Prix

Piastri explains frustration after BEST EVER session result

The Australian put his McLaren second on the grid for Saturday's sprint race

James Phillips

Saturday 29 July 2023 16:57

Oscar Piastri was left conflicted after his best-ever qualifying result left a bittersweet taste.

The Australian flew during Saturday’s sprint qualifying, comfortably having the edge over McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Piastri pulled a blinding lap out of the bag in the dying seconds of SQ3 crossing the line to see himself sitting in the coveted P1 slot.

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But elation turned to frustration in a matter of seconds. Max Verstappen once again took the fastest time, the championship leader spoiling the Australian’s party by the smallest of margins.

Piastri: There wasn't much left out there

His McLaren team came onto the radio to relay the bad news that he had lost P1 by just 11 milliseconds, and Piastri could not hide his frustration, boiling over on his drive back to the pits.

"Great qualifying," his engineer said. "P2 is mega. You'll be frustrated to know Verstappen is only 11 milliseconds ahead." Piastri replied with an expletive, before continuing: "Well, there you go, thanks, everyone, there wasn't much left in that lap, but well done everyone, thank you."

Speaking to Sky Sports after the session, Piastri explained his outburst. Asked if he was happy, he said he could not have extracted much more speed from the MCL36.

“Mostly very happy. Of course, when you cross the line, I saw myself P1 on the TV screen. When I got the call to say I was P2, of course, it’s a bit frustrating when it's by 11 thousands but I felt like I did a really good lap, couldn't get much more out of it.

“Super happy to be on the front row, if there's one track you don't want pole position, it's probably here. So hopefully, we can stay in the tow into turn 5 and see what we can do."

Piastri then threw down the gauntlet to Verstappen and Red Bull. He said although more improvement could be found, he is targeting passing the championship leader in the race.

“Of course there's always places, but on the whole I was very happy with it on the whole, proud to be on the front row. We saw how quick Max was yesterday, to get that close to him, I think, is good. I'm going to say I did it on purpose because of the run to turn 5, just slotted in there nicely.”