Piastri has painful message for McLaren's rivals: 'Wouldn't be correct to claim anything else'

10:35, 13 Apr

byKada Sarkozi

Oscar Piastri is certain: McLaren currently has the fastest car on the Formula 1 grid. The Australian secured the second pole position of the year on Saturday afternoon, opening up a significant gap to teammate Lando Norris.

Oscar Piastri was satisfied with taking pole position for the Bahrain Grand Prix. The Australian driver was also clear about McLaren's performance in the current power rankings.

"I mean, from my side, I'm certainly not shying away from the fact we have the best car at the moment. I think to say otherwise is not correct," the Australian said about the matter at the press conference.

Still, he also underlined that having the fastest car does not always translate to the best. "But it is difficult and the margins are still pretty tight. It doesn't take much of a mistake to lose one or two tenths, and that's been the gap more or less. At times we have looked very, very strong, but I think when everyone turns up for qualifying, we know that we still have to put our best foot forward."

McLaren must capitalise according to Piastri

Piastri also stressed that McLaren have now got to take advantage of the car they have. "Like we saw in Japan, we didn't quite get the most out of the car, got pipped by Max. And today, Lando's not on the front row, so it's difficult, definitely. I certainly don't think we're fast enough to do whatever we want, but we do have a nice advantage at the moment that we're trying our best to make sure we continue to use week in, week out," he concluded.

This article was written in collaboration with Kimberley Hoefnagel