First career pole position for Oscar Piastri, who set the fastest lap with a time of 1:30.641, a track record for the Australian.
In the Chinese afternoon in Shanghai, Oscar Piastri secured his first-ever pole position with a time of 1:30.641. The track record was shattered by the McLaren driver, who will start tomorrow’s race ahead of George Russell and his teammate Lando Norris.
Interviewed in the parc fermé, Piastri commented on his qualifying session: “I’m really happy with how it went, especially because, based on my initial feelings, I wasn’t expecting it. In Q3, I found a lot of speed, whereas I struggled a bit in Q1 and Q2. The car came to life at the end, and so did I. I’m quite satisfied, even though the laps were a bit messy. Still, being on pole position really boosts my confidence.
This track is really fun, especially thanks to the new asphalt, which provides a lot of grip: for us drivers, it’s the best feeling possible. The problem is that when you lose grip, the situation becomes immediately tricky and painful. We saw a few small errors today because of this, but when you manage to put together a perfect lap, the feeling is amazing, so I’m happy to accept this result.”
Piastri then added: “Starting at the front tomorrow, I hope it will give me an advantage, and I’ll try to take advantage of the clean air ahead of me. I think the Sprint went well: we did our best, and all in all, I was quite satisfied. Of course, I would have been even more satisfied with a win, but considering how the race went, I couldn’t have asked for much more. Tomorrow, I’ll try to use what I learned this morning and we’ll see what we can achieve.”
Photo: X McLaren F1 Team