Piastri signals where McLaren must focus ahead of Australia qualifying
The Melbourne native ended the second practice session seventh, just ahead of team-mate Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri is seeking more consistency from his McLaren in Australian Grand Prix qualifying, after a tight practice in Melbourne.
Competing in his home race for the second time, Piastri finished the second practice session in seventh to follow on from 10th in the opening 60 minutes of practice.
Team-mate Lando Norris, who topped Free Practice 1 with the top five separated by less than a tenth felt the team would not be able to replicate that form going into qualifying, with Piastri echoing those thoughts.
The Albert Park circuit is tricky for McLaren with Sectors 1 and 2 playing to its high-speed corner strength, before the slow, tight corners in Sector 3 expose the long-standing weakness in the car, with Piastri believing consistency in the car will be the difference between starting near the front or back of the top 10.
Piastri explained that the team’s performance has been inconsistent, showing strength at times but also weaknesses.
Today showed some encouraging signs, but everyone is facing challenges with the wind, making it difficult to coordinate everything. “I would say that Norris and I are quite similar in terms of set-up.
We always stay relatively close in our approach and have been experimenting with a few different things, but that’s normal for us.”
“We will assess what worked well during the night and implement it for tomorrow.” “The pace in the short term seems very close, similar to this year.
Even if we are slightly faster, we will still be at the front. However, if we perform like we did towards the end of FP2, we may be towards the bottom of the top 10.”
“We have been in that position for the past two rounds, so hopefully we can improve the car’s consistency.”
Certain teams are still considering unique options for their tires, and the wear on the tires is expected to be significant on Sunday. Qualifying in the top positions can make things easier, so the team will focus on putting in a lot of effort to achieve that goal.
