FP1 and FP2 of the Spanish GP are in the books, and Oscar Piastri ended the day at the top of the timesheets: here’s what he said after Friday in Barcelona.
After finishing the first free practice session in Barcelona in fifth place, the Australian made his mark in the afternoon. Oscar Piastri topped the second free practice session of the Spanish GP, once again showing that McLaren is the car to beat. In the qualifying simulation, the 24-year-old set the fastest time of 1:12.760 on soft tyres.
The potential of the MCL39 was also evident in the gap to the second-placed driver. George Russell finished 0.286 seconds behind, ahead of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, who were both more than three tenths behind Oscar Piastri.
The Australian seems to have bounced back after Monaco, where he struggled compared to his teammate.
Oscar Piastri’s words
Last week, Oscar Piastri had trouble finding the rhythm in time for qualifying and only managed to secure third place. Today, however, he showed improvement in that area, setting the best time during a qualifying simulation lap. He will still need to work on race pace, as both Norris and Verstappen recorded faster and more consistent laps in the first two practice sessions.
Nonetheless, the Australian is not surprised by the pace of the four-time world champion. He stated: “Max Verstappen has been quick all day, Ferrari was there, Mercedes showed up at the end, so qualifying will be a tight battle. We definitely expected Red Bull to be fast, so it’s not a big surprise.”
“It was a bit of an up-and-down day, but I think it ended quite well,” added the McLaren driver, number 81. “The conditions are a bit tricky with these temperatures, so tomorrow will be an interesting day.”
“We tried a few different things today, some worked well, some didn’t. We’ll make some changes overnight to put ourselves in the best position for Saturday,” Oscar Piastri concluded.
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