The 21-year-old Piastri struggled in his Formula One debut as the McLaren car’s lack of race pace left him 18th of 20 on the grid for tomorrow’s race
Piastri’s experienced teammate Lando Norris himself only just managed to be one of the 15 drivers to negotiate Q1 on Saturday and was then eliminated at the second stage, finishing 11th quickest overall.
In his first qualifying session, Piastri was timed at 1 minute 32.101 seconds for his fastest lap, which meant he failed to get through to Q2 by 0.409 sec. “I made too many mistakes, especially on that second lap in Q1,” he said, while suggesting that some debris on the track from the bodywork of Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari, which triggered a red flag, hadn’t helped his cause.But Piastri remained optimistic about making up places in Sunday’s race.
“I think we can try to make up some spots tomorrow, that will be the plan, definitely,” he said. “Our straight-line speed is probably not our strongest point. For me, it’ll be a good opportunity to get back into the swing of racing. It’ll be my first race for quite some time, so I’ll make the most of it. I’m excited.Oscar Piastri’s McLaren blows sparks in the first round of qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix.
After a good final practice run on Saturday in which he had finished ninth fastest and was quicker than Norris, there had been high hopes in the McLaren camp that the team’s new boy might at least get beyond Q1.
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