Oscar Piastri will start in P2 at the 2025 F1 British Grand Prix after “mega” lap in qualifying, and an even better one by Max Verstappen to push him from pole.
Oscar Piastri will line up second on the grid for Sunday’s British GP, with McLaren teammate Lando Norris behind and four-time World Champion Max Verstappen ahead. While Piastri held provisional pole after the first runs of Q3, a sensational Verstappen lap saw him take pole.
Starting on the front row gives Piastri a slight advantage ahead of teammate and Driver’s Championship rival Lando Norris ahead of Sunday.
Speaking in Parc Ferme, Piastri spoke about a “messy” final run and looked ahead to a “fun” race around Silverstone.
A “mega” lap put Piastri in provisional pole
The first run of Q3 saw Piastri in provisional pole, with a healthy gap to Norris and Vertsappen – who both struggled.
The Driver’s Championship leader thought his run would be difficult to top by him or another driver, saying: “I was happy with the first lap. The first lap was mega, to be honest.”
Despite the strong first lap, Piastri knows that he could have challenged Verstappen’s second run: “I was trying to think of how I was going to go faster, and I didn’t. So, yeah, the last lap was a little bit messy. I don’t know how much the track would have improved, but a little bit [was left] on the table.”
On his provisional pole being whisked away by Max Verstappen
Piastri struggled to hide his dissapointment at Verstappen snatching pole away with an incredible final lap, stating: “It’s tough, especially when you think it’s a good lap.”
The Kiwi also provided an insight into his mentality for his second run, where he was unable to improve on his time of 1:24.995. Despite the dissapointment, Piastri is content with his P2 start: “So, yeah, always a little bit of fine margins, but ultimately pretty happy with second on the grid.”
“You don’t want to overdo it and try and go over the limit. I think there was a couple of corners where maybe I was a bit safe on the way in and tried to make up for it on the way out, and it didn’t quite work.”
McLaren working hard to find pace
Despite the incredible season so far for the Woking-based outfit, Piastri and his team have lofty expectations for their own pace. As they look to secure the Constructors’ Championship and have one driver top the Driver’s Standings, the team is hopeful to secure a few extra tenths.
“The team’s done a great job. Tried a lot of things this weekend, trying to get a bit more pace. The car’s felt mega all weekend, but there’s been a few points where we’ve been scratching our heads why we’re not quicker.
“So, yeah, the team’s done a great job getting us back onto the form that we know.”
Piastri expecting an even race on Sunday
The 2025 season so far has seen a natural ebb and flow of pace between the top teams. Piastri expects the close battles to continue in Sunday’s Grand Prix.
“It’s going to be a fun race. It’s been very evenly matched between us, Max, the Ferraris – I saw even George get up there at the end.
All of us have got slightly different strengths. The Red Bull’s very quick in a straight line, we seem to be quicker in the high speed. It’s going to be a fun one.”
Piastri will be hoping to get his elbows out and attack Verstappen on the off. But, with Lando Norris just behind, it looks to be setting up for excitement in Silverstone tomorrow.
