Oscar Piastri clinched his third pole position of the season in style at the F1 Imola GP, mastering a messy qualifying session riddled with red flags and tyre troubles. The McLaren driver outpaced the field with a confident lap that showcased both his growing composure and the team’s strategic clarity.
“It was a great session. Very tough session, with all the delays, the red flags, and then also the tyres. The tyres have been very, very tricky today,” Piastri said to the press, after going fastest in Q3 ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
“We’ve been trying a few different things this weekend, and we got into a nice place for Qualifying.”
“So, the lap was good. I had about four cars in the last corner, which didn’t help, but it was enough. So very, very happy with the job well done, and yeah, I’m excited for tomorrow.”
Piastri analyses his F1 Imola GP pole lap
The Australian made the bold choice to lead the pack out for the final laps in Q3, sacrificing a potential slipstream, but gaining clean air in a decisive moment. “I wasn’t thrilled to be the first car on track,” he admitted, “But I had quite a big gap in the run before anyway, so it wasn’t actually that much different for me.”
“Of course, you lose the slipstream going first, but you don’t have any disturbed air, you don’t have any dirty air. I think that definitely helped me out a little bit.”
“But yeah, that’s what we chose to do. I think we’ve got enough pace to be able to do that and stick to our guns, and that’s what we did. So the team did a great job of executing that one.”
Despite encountering traffic in the final corner, Piastri’s lap was enough to edge out his rivals. “It was good. I was happy with it. I feel like in Q3 I found my groove. It wasn’t the easiest of days.”
“It was hard to build into a rhythm,” he added, “But I think by Q3 I found my feet, and the last lap of Q3 was a good one. Yeah, I thought it was going to unravel at the last corner with a few people trying to start their laps, but it was enough to get through there and still get pole.”
Asked about beating Max Verstappen’s benchmark, Piastri said, “I thought it was going to be tough to beat. I felt like my first lap was very strong. I think when I got back to the garage, I saw that there were a few things that could have been a bit better.”
“Yeah, found a little bit in a few places, and that was enough in the end. Felt like I definitely had to find a bit more for that final run, and I think I did a good job doing it.”
Four wins in a row? Piastri weighs his chances
His pole comes on the back of a strong run of form. If he wins tomorrow, it’ll mark his fourth consecutive victory, a remarkable achievement for the 23-year-old. “I think as long as I can get a good start, then confident. You know, it’s a difficult track to overtake on.”
“I think our pace has been strong. Our long run pace yesterday looked very encouraging.”
Piastri sheds light on F1 Imola GP tire controversy
Piastri also weighed in on the C6 compound that sparked widespread confusion across the paddock, “We all put it on in FP3, and I don’t think anyone went any faster. My car certainly felt worse when I put that tyre on,” he said.
“When you have four of them for qualifying, you don’t have many options. So it was a struggle.”
“Had to be pretty careful through the lap to not destroy it straight away. And obviously, George qualified on the Medium at the end, which, if I had a few more, I probably would have wanted a similar thing.”
He had a theory on the C6 confusion: “I think it’s just us all going faster. Dropping the fuel, increasing the engine modes, pushing harder. You probably don’t explore the limits of the tyre or overheat it as much yesterday when we’re going about.
“I don’t know how much slower we were yesterday — maybe not that much in the end. But I think when you start to push things even further, the tyres eventually just gave up.
“They were struggling yesterday already, but today I think the C5 was faster than the C6, probably, or it certainly felt nicer. So, I think when you push it even further, you just expose the weakness of the tyre even more.”
On whether F1 should keep experimenting with compounds not tailored to the track, he said, “Let’s see tomorrow. The softer tyres are more with Sunday in mind to try and add more pit stops.
“I think Pirelli have done a better job this year with the tyres, and I think that’s why we’re seeing more one-stop races. So, there are positives — for us anyway — of these one-stop races and tyres that feel a bit better.
“We’ll see after tomorrow. If tomorrow is still a one-stop race, then obviously it’s probably back to the drawing board a little bit more. But it’s not easy to make a tyre that performs well over one lap and then doesn’t destroy itself in the race.”
