After skipping McLaren’s new rear suspension, Oscar Piastri stays optimistic, believing strong pace can still lead to a race win.
Despite a tough start to the weekend and a third place on the grid that felt almost unexpected, Oscar Piastri is expecting to battle George Russell and Max Verstappen this Sunday in Canada. The McLaren F1 driver believes victory is within reach, even if it won’t be easy to secure.
“I think so. Again, Friday wasn’t very good, but I feel more comfortable now. Our race pace is generally strong. The two next to me have been very fast on long runs, so it certainly won’t be an easy win, but I think we’re in the fight,” said Piastri.
The Australian declined to use the new rear suspension for the rest of the weekend, but insists it’s not due to a lack of performance: “I’m not really worried. I’m obviously not going to go into details, but I could have used it if I wanted to, and I didn’t.”
“It changes certain things – some things are better, others are worse. It’s not that simple. It’s not an upgrade, it’s a different part. So yes, I had the option to use it, but I chose not to. I’ve been happy with the car’s condition since the beginning of the year and, again, I just wanted to stay consistent.”
Piastri doesn’t believe McLaren has lost performance or that their rivals are in better form, but simply that poor preparation cost them this weekend: “We’ve struggled so far this weekend. In qualifying, we found our footing and things became a bit more normal.”
“But apart from maybe one or two runs in qualifying, it was very tight most of the time. In qualifying, there was the added complication of the medium tyre compared to the soft. And as George said, this is a track where they’ve been strong in the past. Maybe the conditions suited them better. There are a thousand reasons for that.”
“But in free practice, we were behind. Even in FP3, for me, I wasn’t very happy. In qualifying, I think it was a normal battle. It’s kind of the price you pay for not being on top of things from the start. You might miss that extra half-tenth, and that can make the difference.”
“That’s more or less what happened in qualifying. Obviously, the gap was bigger than that, but again, with other factors, I think we were in the mix but paid the price for a slightly messy weekend.”
