Piastri avoids getting his hopes up: 'Seven other cars aren't slower!'
F1 News
- Ludo van Denderen
On a weekend when McLaren announced that Lando Norris is getting preferential treatment in the hope that it will allow him to beat Max Verstappen in the Formula 1 World Championship, it looks as if teammate Oscar Piastri will be pulling the majority of the weight for the Woking-based team in Baku. The Australian will start Sunday's Azerbaijan Grand Prix in second place behind pole-sitter Charles Leclerc. So a second Grand Prix win is certainly possible for Piastri, although he keeps a lid on his chances.
Leclerc seemed elusive to all competitors. Behind the Monegasque, it was a duel between Piastri, Sainz, Russell, Perez, Verstappen and Hamilton. They were all candidates for the second spot on the front row of the grid. Therefore, with so many drivers and teams close together - and the uncertainty as to whether Leclerc can be fast over the race distance means Piastri does not want to say who is the big favourite for the win.
Piastri expects an exciting battle
"Probably whoever finishes in front tomorrow, I would say!" laughed Piastri after qualifying. "I don't know. I think it's very, very even. Through all of practice it looked very tight between us, Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull. To be honest, I was a bit surprised Red Bull weren't a bit further up at the end of Q3."
McLaren has been on top form in recent months, and Piastri is also confident for Sunday: "I think our race pace looked good yesterday, but nowadays the top four teams are so close in race pace that qualifying often makes a massive difference. So I've got confidence that our car will be quick. But I think there are definitely seven other cars out on the track that are certainly not any slower."
This article has been created in collaboration with Ludo van Denderen
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17 September 2024
