McLaren’s Oscar Piastri saw his F1 Austrian GP qualifying challenge cut short after a dramatic yellow flag scuppered his final Q3 run, leaving him in P3 for Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“The fact I didn’t get to start”
Piastri had been building towards one last push for the front row, only to see Pierre Gasly spin at the final corner, forcing yellow flags and ending his lap before it began. “It was the fact I didn’t get to start it,” he said in his trackside interview.
“That was the problem. I had Gasly spin at the last corner, so I didn’t even open my second lap. And Lando’s been very quick all weekend, so it would have been a tough challenge, but I think we easily had enough pace in the car this weekend to be on the front row. So always a shame when you don’t even get the chance, but we can still have a good race from there. Sometimes it’s just not your day.”
Despite the setback, Piastri’s outlook stayed positive, reminding fans the points only count on Sunday. “Yeah, definitely,” he added.
“I think our pace this weekend has looked very strong. I think the Ferrari pace looked good as well, which was a bit of a surprise, but I think we still got some opportunities tomorrow. So, I’m not planning on finishing third, that’s for sure.” With the proven overtaking potential of the Spielberg circuit and the effectiveness of DRS, Piastri knows there is still everything to play for in Sunday’s battle.
Missing that final tenth
Speaking to the media in the post-session press conference, the Australian elaborated on his frustration, “Yeah, to an extent,” Piastri responded when asked if it was a case of what might have been. “I think through all of qualifying, I was missing that last tenth, but not getting the chance to do my final Q3 run was quite frustrating. Sometimes those things are going to happen. I was quite happy that I didn’t lose more spots by not doing that. So, third’s still an okay place to start around here. You can race around this track, so try and make some progress.”
Piastri felt “comfortable” behind the wheel despite the lost opportunity, noting how tricky the Spielberg layout can be. “FP1 was a little bit of a messy start, but then I felt pretty good through the rest of practice,” he said.
“And qualifying again felt quite good. It’s very difficult around here to get that perfect lap because there’s a lot of corners that have gravel on the exit, and you’ve got to be pretty careful there.”
“But there’s also a lot of corners that you miss an apex by five centimetres one way or the other, and you’ve lost a couple of tenths easily. So it’s not the easiest track to hook up even though it’s short, and I just kind of felt like I didn’t quite do that today. So, a bit of a shame.”
Is Verstappen in the race for the title?
Pressed on whether Red Bull’s struggles meant this title fight was now purely between McLaren and Ferrari, Piastri refused to rule out Verstappen. He commented,“I don’t have that much to add, but I think at this point of the year, it’s still too early to rule out Max.”
“I agree. I think we expected more from him this weekend, or in qualifying, because he looked very close in a lot of the practice sessions. So, I don’t know if he also got caught out by the yellow flag. It’s too early at the moment.”
With Norris on pole and Piastri in P3, McLaren has a serious shot at a huge haul of points on Sunday. For Piastri, the F1 Austrian GP qualifying disappointment could yet be turned to a positive with a strong strategy and confident race pace.
