F1 | Piastri: “Victory possible, but Ferrari is definitely not slow”

The more McLaren needs Lando Norris’s contribution to try to chase Max Verstappen in the hunt for the title, the more its reference driver takes on the appearance of Oscar Piastri. While the Briton had a more than disappointing qualifying in Baku, being eliminated in Q1, the Australian reiterated once again that he is now a top driver in all respects.

On the Azerbaijan street circuit the MCL38 did not seem as brilliant as in recent outings, but Piastri was very good at finding the limit in an already complicated Q3 due to the fact that he had arrived there with only one set of new soft tyres. Oscar, however, was able to make the most of it, scoring a front row spot that was perhaps even a little unexpected and bowing only to the now true master of Baku, Charles Leclerc, given that for the Ferrari driver it is actually the fourth consecutive pole position on this track.

Once he entered the decisive segment of qualifying, the McLaren driver felt he had nothing left to lose and attacked decisively, as also confirmed by the “kiss” he ended up giving the wall at turn 15. Despite the gap of over three tenths from Leclerc, in the end he had the satisfaction of denying an all-Red front row to Ferrari and indirectly also helped Norris, given that the championship leader Verstappen did not go beyond sixth place on the grid with his Red Bull.

When asked in parc fermé what was the key to making this big step forward on his final attempt, he explained: “I got a little closer to the wall. In fact, on the last lap I even got too close to make the most of my car. This is a track that rewards risk and on my final attempt in Q3 I had much less to lose, so I tried to make the most of the car. I wasn’t able to express myself at my best in the first part of qualifying, but I’m very happy with my Q3.”

Starting from the front row, the goal for tomorrow must be victory, even if the Ferraris will not be easy to beat: “I think that from this starting position it is possible, but following those in front of you is very difficult on this track and we saw it yesterday, when you have to follow someone it is very hard. I hope to have some clean air in front of me, a clear track, because it would be very good for managing the race. Our race pace is good, but the Ferrari is certainly not slow”, he concluded.