Piastri took big risk in qualifying: 'Best hairpin ever'
F1 News
At the Chinese Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri managed to achieve an important milestone. With defeating George Russell, Lando Norris and Max Verstappen, he claimed his first-ever pole position in Formula 1. To achieve that, he also did the the best hairpin of his life.
Oscar Piastri's first pole position came after the Australian finished in P2 in the Sprint at the Chinese Grand Prix. In Australia, Lando Norris was on pole position ahead of Piastri, but this time, it was him who got the better of his teammate.
The Australian was already on provisional pole before his final run, while Lando Norris failed to improve and George Russell could separate the two McLaren drivers. Piastri also took a lot of risk on his final lap, but it was worth it, as he managed to complete the best hairpin of his life, he claimed over the team radio
"My first lap was honestly better than my second lap, but just at the hairpin at the end of the straight I lost a bit of time and didn’t do the best hairpin," he explained after qualifying at the Shanghai International Circuit.
All or nothing for Piastri
After not having the best first two sectors on his second run, Piastri decided to go for it. "And then the second lap I was about two-tenths down on myself, so I kind of just went, why not send it into the hairpin, and I gained those two-tenths back and then found a little bit more in the last corner."
"So yeah, honestly, without that, I was tempted to box before that. So I’m pretty happy now that I didn’t, but it was... I just did a good corner, that’s all," he concluded.
This article was written in collaboration with Marnik Kok
Want more Formula 1? Then follow GPblog on our various social media channels!