Oscar Piastri finished qualifying for the Italian Grand Prix in Formula 1 in third position, but will start the race in P6 due to a penalty. The McLaren driver explained that the team decided to bring forward his pit exit to avoid getting stuck in traffic.
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The pit lane start position was decisive for the strategy adopted by McLaren. Piastri stated that leading the group from the start allowed him to complete a competitive first lap and helped the team make the right decision in a session where few drivers managed to improve their times in the final attempt.
“It’s good to have finished the session in third, even though, in the end, we will start the race in P6 tomorrow. When you do your lap it’s always important here, and we knew that our position in the pit lane would put us at risk of getting stuck behind, so we decided to leave the garage early and lead the group,” said Piastri.
The Australian assessed that his first lap was consistent and highlighted that only a few competitors managed to improve their times in their last attempts. Piastri also congratulated Pierre Gasly and Alpine for the pole position, the Frenchman’s first in F1.
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For the race, however, Piastri acknowledged that McLaren starts with a pace disadvantage compared to Mercedes and Ferrari in the long runs. Still, the driver believes that the characteristics of the first laps can quickly change the scenario.
“Our long run pace is not as fast as Mercedes and Ferrari, but the first laps here are usually chaotic and the fastest car will not necessarily be the leader after that. It could be an interesting race,” he added.
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