Oscar Piastri left the Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix qualifying session with a mix of frustration and optimism. The McLaren driver finished only in fifth position after failing to complete his last attempt in Q3, hindered by Lewis Hamilton right at the first corner.
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This incident gained even more weight because it happened at a decisive moment in the session. While Piastri aborted his fast lap, his teammate, Lando Norris, secured pole position, reinforcing the perception that there was potential for a better result on the other side of the garage.
According to the Australian, the problem was caused exclusively by Hamilton’s presence in his path. Piastri ruled out any influence from the yellow flag caused by Max Verstappen and stated that the seven-time champion did not notice his approach.
“It was simply Lewis not looking in his mirrors,” he told Sky F1. “The yellow flag wasn’t my problem. It’s a shame because it meant I couldn’t register a lap anyway.”
Despite the setback, Piastri highlighted that McLaren showed competitiveness throughout Saturday. The driver admitted that he is still looking to extract the full potential of the car, but believes that the performance presented by the team is a clear sign of the evolution achieved.
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“It’s clear the car was fast today. I’ve been trying to find the best performance from it, and it hasn’t been easy, but there’s clearly performance available,” he commented.
McLaren arrived at the Hungaroring with a comprehensive upgrade package, amidst intense development competition between the teams. For Piastri, the novelties have already shown positive results, especially after Norris’s pole.
“It’s pretty clear they work. One of the cars is on pole, so I think the team has done a good job. This was exactly the kind of evolution we needed,” he added.
The Australian, however, avoided making broader predictions about the impact of the updates throughout the season: “We’ll see if that will be enough to help us at all circuits, but certainly the car is faster,” concluded Piastri, who will try to transform McLaren’s performance gain into a recovery during Sunday’s race, especially since Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli were penalized, and Piastri moved up to P3 on the starting grid.
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