‘Lose my s***’: Oscar Piastri blows F1 world away after qualifying incident
Oscar Piastri told the world how he really felt after he was compromised during a qualifying incident at the Italian Grand Prix.
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Oscar Piastri has again blown the Formula 1 world away as he delivered McLaren’s first pole at the Italian Grand Prix in 20 years.
The Australian secured pole for Sunday night’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix ahead of championship rival Max Verstappen, despite his final flying lap being compromised.
The 24-year-old was on a near-flawless lap when he encountered traffic in Q3.
Dodging between three cars in the space of two corners, Piastri still managed to clock a best lap of one minute and 14.670 seconds to beat Verstappen by 0.34 seconds.
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Piastri was typically cool and measured as he crossed the line, but his final radio message to his team exposed how he really felt.
“I was going to lose my s*** if that last corner cost me pole,” he said before hopping out of his car.
“It wasn’t the easiest session, but nicely done.”
Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris was P4 with Mercedes’ George Russell taking third.
Piastri, who leads Norris in the world championship by 16 points, has now out-qualified his teammate at four of the last six rounds,
“I wasn’t thrilled to be the first car on track,” said Piastri. “You lose slipstream going first, but you don’t have dirty air.
“I think that definitely helped me out a bit, but that’s what we chose to do. We have enough pace to do that and stick to our guns and that’s what we did - the team did a great job of executing that one.”
Verstappen was satisfied despite missing out on his third consecutive pole, insisting: “It was a good day for us.”
Mercedes’ George Russell was third ahead of Norris and two-time champion Fernando Alonso of Aston Martin who took fifth after switching from soft to medium tyres.
Norris was disappointed and downcast after the session, finding it difficult to explain his loss of form and pace since opening the season with pole position and victory at the Australian Grand Prix.
“It is what it is,” he said.
“If I had an answer, I’d be using it. I guess I just wasn’t quick enough. None of my performances in Q3 have been strong enough this year, so it’s the same thing.”
Piastri’s calm demeanour has hidden a steely determination that has emerged this year to drive his championship bid with a run of consistent clean and measured performances.
In a delayed and incident-hit qualifying session of two red-flag interruptions, it was his third pole position this year and his career.
F1 commentators were in awe of Piastri’s ability to keep his composure despite the traffic late in his lap.
“As good as that lap was there’s nothing he could have done to avoid that traffic,” Sky Sports analyst Anthony Davidson said.
“What a lap from Oscar Piastri, despite that traffic he encountered in the last two corners.
“Brilliant lap by Oscar and he kept his cool, like he always does.”
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella on Sky Sports F1: “Oscar, once again, he proved how cool he is – really a cold head, because he found so many cars in the last two corners.
“He stayed calm, he managed not to lose too much time, and scored the pole position. So, I think just confirmation of the talent that we know we have in hand.
“For Lando, I think the loss was distributed in a couple of corners, not just in one place.”
Ferrari having a nightmare on home soil
The Ferraris of Charles Leclerc and seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton failed to make the cut to Q3 and qualified 11th and 12th ahead of local hero Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.
“It’s a tough one,” said Hamilton.
“Ultimately, I feel super gutted and I’m devastated that we weren’t able to get through.
“It’s devastating to see everyone working so hard in the garage and to be in Italy for the first Italian race, and for me at Ferrari, and not making it - it’s definitely bitter-sweet.”
The session began in spectacular fashion in glorious spring sunshine when Japan’s Yuki Tsunoda walked away from an alarming high-speed crash.
The action resumed after a 12-minute interval to repair the circuit before another red flag in the final seconds of Q1 when returning rookie Franco Colapinto, replacing Jack Doohan for Alpine, crashed on the exit of Tamburello.
His car was badly damaged as he spun into the barriers nose-first, but he was unhurt and walked clear of the wreckage.
Verstappen topped the Q1 times ahead of Piastri and Alonso with Liam Lawson, of Racing Bulls, Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg and the two Haas cars of Esteban Ocon and Oliver Bearman eliminated along with Tsunoda.
Bearman’s late cancelled time was declared to be ‘under review’ as Q2 was delayed, a decision that suggested he might be reinstated to replace Sauber’s Gabriel Bortoleto.
Both sat in their cars waiting before the Brazilian drove alone to pit lane in anticipation. Two minutes later, Bearman conceded his place in Q2 and climbed out.
The first run saw McLaren back on top, two-tenths clear of Verstappen, before in a dramatic second Sainz went top and Aston Martin’s duo secured top-ten spots by eliminating both Ferraris.
The final shootout began with Piastri on top before Verstappen beat him by 0.049 on the first runs with Norris in P3 ahead of Russell and the impressive rookie Hadjar - but Piastri came back to take pole on his second flying lap.
Grid for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix
1st row Oscar Piastri (AUS/McLaren) Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull)
2nd row George Russell (GBR/Mercedes) Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren)
3rd row Fernando Alonso (ESP/Aston Martin) Carlos Sainz (ESP/Williams)
4th row Alexander Albon (THA/Williams) Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin)
5th row Isack Hadjar (FRA/RB) Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpine)
6th row Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Ferrari)
7th row Kimi Antonelli (ITA/Mercedes) Gabriel Bortoleto (BRA/Sauber)
8th row Franco Colapinto (ARG/Alpine) Liam Lawson (NZL/RB)
9th row Nico Hulkenberg (GER/Sauber) Esteban Ocon (FRA/Haas)
10th row Oliver Bearman (GBR/Haas) Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Red Bull)
— with AFP
Originally published as ‘Lose my s***’: Oscar Piastri blows F1 world away after qualifying incident
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