‘Not very comfortable’: Oscar Piastri opens up on pace problem
Oscar Piastri was fifth fastest in practice but the Australian driver was pondering a concerning deficit ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix.
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Azerbaijan race winner Oscar Piastri was unable to unlock the pace of his McLaren during practice in Singapore.
The Australian ended the day fifth fastest with a best of 1:31.474s, a time that proved 0.006s slower than Yuki Tsunoda in the impressive RB.
But more concerning was the deficit to teammate Lando Norris, who topped the times, with a 1:30.727s – seven-tenths faster than Piastri.
“Just not very comfortable with it at the moment for whatever reason,” the 23-year-old Australian confessed.
“I mean, I don’t feel my lap was great, but I’ve not felt that any of the laps have been great.
“Just need to try and find a little bit more, try and get a bit more comfortable with the car is probably the first thing, and try and find the limit from there.
“Our pace looks not too bad, we’re still somewhere towards the front, but obviously the gap to Lando is bigger than what it should be.”
Norris topped Free Practice 2 by 0.058s over Charles Leclerc, having trailed the Ferrari earlier in the day by 0.076s.
Piastri’s day wasn’t helped by a slightly delayed to start to the opening hour of running.
During pit stop practice earlier in the day the squad discovered an issue with the rear corner of the Australian’s car.
“During this morning’s pit stop practice we encountered an issue on the rear-left corner of Oscar’s car, which we are currently replacing,” the team revealed just prior to Free Practice 1.
“This isn’t an issue we’ve seen before, but we want to assess the issue fully to ensure we have no further issues this weekend.”
While repairs were quickly carried out, it meant Piastri sat out the opening 10 minutes of the session.
However, he was quick to point out that it was not the reason for his comparative lack of pace.
“It wasn’t an ideal start to the day but I don’t think it’s really impacted much,” he reasoned.
“It’s been a difficult day, definitely but I don’t think it was down to that.
“I just struggled to find a rhythm, really.
“The pace in the car looked strong, just not been able to unlock it that well.
“There’s definitely some things to go into tonight.”
Piastri remained among the leading contenders, and well clear of Max Verstappen who was only 15th after a horrid day for the Dutchman.
With McLaren looking to consolidate its place at the head of the constructors’ championship, and Norris chasing the drivers’ championship against Verstappen, it’s a welcome development regardless of Piastri’s deficit.
A final hour of practice remains ahead of qualifying for Sunday’s race.
Free Practice 3 begins at 17:30 local time (19:30 AEST) this evening.
NORRIS LEADS WAY AS VERSTAPPEN STRUGGLES
McLaren’s Lando Norris went fastest to lead Ferrari pair Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz in second practice for the Singapore Grand Prix with world champion Max Verstappen struggling to 15th.
The session could not have panned out much better for Englishman Norris, who trails Verstappen by 59 points at the top of the drivers’ standings.
The second practice in Singapore is pivotal for the teams as it is the only session which is run under the same night conditions as the race around the 4.94km Marina Bay Circuit.
“I felt like I got a lot out of Friday,” said Norris. “A good start to the weekend and if we can keep it up I’ll be happy.”
Verstappen had 60 minutes to forget and was only 15th fastest in a skittish Red Bull that looked at times like it was on ice.
The Dutch three-time world champion was a massive 1.294 seconds adrift of Norris’s fastest lap of 1min 30.727sec.
“Today was difficult. We didn’t have the grip that we would have liked on the tyres, so I felt like we were sliding a lot more than usual,” admitted Verstappen, who had a bad day off the track too after earlier being reprimanded by stewards for swearing in the drivers’ press conference.
Leclerc, who had been fastest in first practice, clocked 1:30.785, just 0.058sec slower than Norris, but Sainz, who won in Singapore 12 months ago, was almost six tenths behind his teammate.
The stats round up from Friday in Singapore! 📈#F1#SingaporeGPpic.twitter.com/NA54F2Sptu
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2024
“There’s still some work ahead of us to get it to feel exactly as I want it to,” said the Monegasque Leclerc.
“We have to find the right balance and put it all together in qualifying tomorrow.” Yuki Tsunoda in a much-improved RB was fourth ahead of the second McLaren of Oscar Piastri, fresh from his victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku last weekend.
The second RB driven by Daniel Ricciardo was sixth.
George Russell’s Mercedes, Sergio Perez’s Red Bull, Alex Albon’s Williams and the Haas of Nico Hulkenberg completed the top 10 on the timesheets.
George Russell's FP2 comes to an abrupt end 💥#F1#SingaporeGPpic.twitter.com/Vp8vgvU9XE
— Formula 1 (@F1) September 20, 2024
‘NOTHING SEEMS TO WORK’
Russell crashed into a wall at turn eight near the end of the session, but managed to limp back to the pits without his front wing which was embedded in the barrier.
His teammate Lewis Hamilton has won four times before in Singapore, but the seven-time world champion was a long way off the pace on Friday.
“At the moment, we won’t be going into Q3,” Hamilton said after coming 11th, 0.982 seconds behind Norris.
“We tried everything set-up wise and nothing seems to work.” Singapore was the only race Red Bull failed to win last year in a dominant season.
They returned 12 months later having lost their lead at the top of the constructors’ standings to McLaren, who are 20 points ahead.
Verstappen has not won for seven grands prix as McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes have all taken the chequered flag.
It looks odds-on that his fortunes will not improve around the unpredictable city centre track, where he has never won.
Meanwhile, McLaren said Friday they would modify their controversial rear wing after other teams, led by Red Bull, questioned its legality.
Governing body the FIA had said the wing, which was dubbed by some observers as a “mini-DRS (drag reduction system)” after footage showed it moving at high speed, was legal and no modifications were needed.
“While our Baku rear wing complies with the regulations and passes all FIA deflection tests, McLaren have proactively offered to make some minor adjustments to the wing following our conversations with the FIA,” said a McLaren statement.
“We would also expect the FIA to have similar conversations with other teams in relation to the compliance of their rear wings.”
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