Oscar Piastri admits that McLaren have “been scratching our heads” over a lack of pace as both he and team mate Lando Norris were beaten to pole position for the British Grand Prix by Max Verstappen.
“The team has done a great job, we’ve tried a lot of things this weekend, trying to get a bit more pace,” said Piastri post-Qualifying.
“The car has felt mega all weekend but there’s been a few points where we’ve been scratching our heads why we’re not quicker.”
“The last lap was a little bit messy but it’s been tight all weekend.
“Probably more with Lewis [Hamilton] and Charles [Leclerc], George [Russell], as well [in sixth for Mercedes].
After Max Verstappen beat him and teammate Lando Norris to pole position for the British Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri acknowledges that McLaren has “been scratching our heads” over a lack of speed.
After dominating last time out in Austria, Piastri leads Norris by 15 points in the Drivers’ Championship going into this weekend’s race at Silverstone. He is also 61 points ahead of Verstappen as the season nears its halfway point.
The Red Bull Ring’s speed advantage hasn’t materialized yet this weekend in Britain, though, as Verstappen and Ferrari drivers Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc have been able to close the gap due to cooler weather.
Piastri stated after qualifying, “The team has done a great job, we’ve tried a lot of things this weekend, trying to get a bit more pace.”.
The car has felt amazing the entire weekend, but there have been a few instances where we’ve been baffled as to why we’re not faster. “.”.
After Saturday’s first set of runs in Q3, Piastri held provisional pole position, but he was unable to improve his final effort, allowing Verstappen to seize the top spot with his final lap by just 0 points and 103 seconds.
The Australian acknowledged that he felt the first attempt was close to the end and that it was difficult to find more time with his second attempt.
Piastri said, “To be honest, the first lap was mega.”. “I was trying to figure out how I could go faster, but I failed.
“It has been tight all weekend, but the last lap was a little messy. We’ll never know if the first lap was sufficient, but I think it was excellent. I’m not sure how much the track would have improved, but a little bit on the table would have helped. “,”.
Norris finished just 0 points and 015 seconds behind his teammate, but after winning in Austria a week ago, he will start from the second row on Sunday with a first-ever home victory planned.
A number of drivers will be in real contention during the race, according to the Briton, who feels that “little margins, little mistakes” made the difference as drivers fought through the high-speed turns in variable wind conditions.
“I anticipate that tomorrow will be enjoyable. The three of us will fight well together, in my opinion,” he said.
George Russell, Charles Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton, and Mercedes [in sixth] are likely to be involved more. I’m excited for Sunday because it’s going to be an interesting day. “.”.
