Piastri: “Happy with 2nd place, but it wasn’t the cleanest lap of my life” | FP

Norris Disaster

Qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix had a real twist in store right at the end of Q1, with the yellow flags forcing the Landon Norris to lift his foot off the accelerator as the Briton was completing his flying lap, with the #4 McLaren set to start from 17th on the grid.

An opportunity to come back in the world championship standings on Max Verstappen almost completely wasted for Norris, given the difficulties in completing overtaking on the Baku street circuit. An opportunity thrown away even taking into account the sixth time of the reigning world champion, unusually behind his teammate Sergio Perez, 4th. At home, however, there is still a great consolation.

Front row with Piastri

Behind a Charles Leclerc in top form, the Woking team will be able to count on Oscar Plateswho will join the Monegasque on the front row in tomorrow’s race. A result not judged negatively by the Australian McLaren driver, even if he acknowledged some errors made during his fast lap that compromised any chance of fighting for pole:

“I think it was not possible to beat Charles today – he admitted to Sky Sports F1 – It wasn’t the cleanest lap of my life, maybe I had a bit of a margin, but it was very messy. I touched the walls a few times, but I don’t think I lost 3 tenths. I’m quite happy with 2nd place, I think it was the maximum I could achieve today. It’s a good starting position for tomorrow. Obviously here it’s very short to turn 1, so it’s not so easy to make up a position, but it’s also true that the road to turn 3 is long, so let’s see if I can take advantage of that”.