‘Massive shock’: Oscar Piastri has blown Formula 1 world away

The Formula 1 world has been left gobsmacked by Aussie Oscar Piastri’s “out of this world” performance on a day of qualifying madness.

We always said he was a special talent — and now the world knows it.

Oscar Piastri has blown Formula 1 commentators away with his best qualifying performance and will start from third for Monday morning’s British Grand Prix after a wild day of qualifying at Silverstone.

Max Verstappen had to come up with a classy final lap deep into the final qualifying session to outpace Lando Norris to take pole — but the big story was the McLaren garage.

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Norris was just two-tenths away from denying the Red Bull driver a fifth consecutive pole position.

It was a mixed day for the Red Bull garage after Sergio Perez flopped in Q1 — leading to calls for Daniel Ricciardo to replace him.

Sunday morning, however, was a rare moment where Piastri stepped out of Ricciardo’s shadow to demand attention from the motorsport world.

McLaren claimed their first front row start at their home British Grand Prix since 2008 through Norris with while Piastri was third, finishing ahead of the two Ferraris and the two Mercedes.

World in awe of Aussie freak

Piastri showed his biggest grin of 2023 after taking full advantage of the upgrades McLaren have introduced this weekend.

“Very, very, very, very happy. What a qualifying session!” Piastri said.

“We were almost out in Q1! But the car was a rocket ship in Q2 and Q3 and it felt like I put a pretty good lap together. “It’s a massive result for the team as well. To have both of us up here is a mega result and we have got to try and stay there for tomorrow.”

Former world champion Jenson Button said it’s obvious Piastri is driving with confidence.

“I don’t think he feels any pressure on his shoulders,” he said on Sky Sports.

Oscar Piastri is the talk of the F1 world. Photo by Peter Fox/Getty Images.

“He had a good start to his year and the team can see his pace, so he doesn’t feel the pressure so much at the moment. “You can see it in his confidence and driving and that’s what a driver needs when they are new to the sport.”

Sky Sports’ Sam Johnston wrote: “For Piastri, who had to wait until this weekend to get his chance to use the upgrades, it was a performance that confirmed the special talent that the sport has been expecting from the Australian since his controversial move to McLaren last summer.”

McLaren produces ‘out of this world’ performance

Max Verstappen said he was surprised to see the timesheets showing two McLarens as his biggest threat — but many at the Silverstone track were absolutely gobsmacked by the result.

“This is a team without a podium at Silverstone for 13 years,” Sky Sports F1 analyst David Crofty said.

“This is a team that has put their cars second and third on the grid for tomorrow’s British GP.

“They have got professor Brian Cox as their guest today but that is a superstellar stratospheric, out of this universe performance in Qualifying.”

Former world champion Jenson Button said on Sky Sports the result was a “massive shock”. “You look at the times yesterday they didn’t seem that competitive,” he said.

“But every session in qualifying there were there, both cars very quick and both of them are up in the top three.

“And it’s so close as well. Two and a half tenths to Max which we might expect but the top seven is under half a second.

The McLarens were breathing fire. Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images.

“Great job by the whole team at the McLaren. It’s many years since they’ve had two cars in the top three (last time Monza 2021).”

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff said McLaren is now a “force to be reckoned with”.

“McLaren have taken a massive step clearly so we need to see if that consolidates,” he said.

“They are a force to be reckoned with now.”

Norris quips ‘Max ruins everything’

Norris who briefly held provisional pole position claimed his third front row start.

“I was close,” he said. “I was P1 in Q1, pretty sure I was P1 in Q2 and just a couple of tenths off being P1 in Q3. Pretty insane! My last lap was a good lap.

“I could hear Zak (team boss, Zak Brown) on the radio on the last lap. For us to be second and third is great for the team, but it’s always Max – and he always ruins everything for everyone!”

Williams’ Alex Albon was eighth ahead of two-time champion Fernando Alonso and Pierre Gasly of Alpine.

Qualifying began after heavy rain and the first session was red-flagged with three minutes remaining when Kevin Magnussen parked his Haas on track, close to the pits entry.

This led to a delay before, with Perez and Albon at the head of a queue, a restart was scheduled – during which Verstappen pulled out, but hit the pit wall and damaged his car’s front wing.

After repairs, he was back out and en route to the 27th pole of his career.

Meanwhile, Valtteri Bottas was disqualified from qualifying and will start last.

Grid for British Grand Prix

Front row: Max Verstappen, Lando Norris

2nd row: Oscar Piastri, Charles Leclerc

3rd row: Carlos Sainz, George Russell

4th row: Lewis Hamilton, Alex Albon

5th row: Fernando Alonso, Pierre Gasly

6th row: Nico Hulkenberg, Lance Stroll

7th row: Esteban Ocon, Logan Sargeant

8th row: Sergio Perez, Yuki Tsunoda

9th row: Zhou Guanyu, Nyck de Vries

10th row: Kevin Magnussen, Valtteri Bottas