Oscar Piastri Reflects on ‘Bizarre and Frustrating’ McLaren Qualifying in Hungary
McLaren's Turbulent Qualifying Session at the Hungarian Grand Prix
McLaren endured a turbulent qualifying session for the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Oscar Piastri narrowly missing out on pole position by just 0.026 seconds to Ferrari's Charles Leclerc. The reigning championship leader secured second place, while his teammate Lando Norris qualified third, in what both drivers described as a "bizarre" and "frustrating" outing at the Hungaroring.
Leclerc's surprising pole was a major talking point, as shifting weather conditions between Q2 and Q3 altered car performance and ultimately hindered McLaren's efforts to improve on their lap times. Piastri, who had been quickest in final practice earlier in the day, expressed frustration at the unpredictable circumstances.
Speaking to reporters after the session, Piastri said, "Depends where you're sat. If you're sat where Charles is, fantastic. If you're sat where I'm sat, bizarre and somewhat frustrating.
"But yeah, I mean, I think the conditions completely changed, and it was just weird. My first lap felt terrible because I was pushing too much and kind of with the wind direction from the first two sessions in mind. So, then I felt like I did a better job on the second lap of managing expectations, and it was even worse.
"So yeah, a bizarre session, but I need to look back and see what differences it made. Things definitely felt more tricky for myself as well in Q3, but I think for everybody it would have been difficult. So that's not our excuse," he added.
Norris shared similar sentiments after finishing just behind his teammate. Starting on the second row alongside George Russell, he described his own Q3 experience as "pretty dreadful."
"I'll just copy and paste, yeah. Exactly the same," Norris said when asked to evaluate his qualifying session.
"Q2 felt very good, felt confident to improve. So, into Q3, aiming for a similar lap time, similar limits, and just felt pretty dreadful. Same things.
"I wasn’t surprised that I was a 1:15.4 in the first run. But in the second lap, it’s just hard to know how much more to push or not push. And I was like, oh, it’s a much better lap, and I was 1:15.4 again. So just similar thing.
"The wind has such big effects on the car when you’re driving. It’s quite easy for it to be half a second swing. So yeah, frustrating because we definitely seem to have a good gap, but in Q3 it seemed to drift away from us as a team more than it did for others," Norris explained.
Optimism Ahead of the Race
Despite the frustrations in qualifying, Piastri remains optimistic about the upcoming race. Starting from the front row could play to his advantage, as the Australian driver claimed his maiden Formula 1 victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix last year from second on the grid.
"It was good last year, so hopefully it can be good again this year. But yeah, like Charles said, there’s some rain around. We’ll see if that impacts the race. But I think our pace has been good, but Charles has been quick all weekend, in certain sessions," Piastri said.
Still, the Hungaroring’s notorious difficulty for overtaking poses a challenge, and Piastri acknowledged that recapturing the lead from Leclerc will be no easy task.
"It is a very difficult track to overtake on, and it’s not going to be the easiest place to try and regain the lead," he admitted.
With rain potentially playing a role and both McLaren drivers hungry for redemption, Sunday’s race promises to deliver yet another chapter in the thrilling rivalry between the sport's rising stars and seasoned veterans.
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