Oscar Piastri takes pole in Sprint Shootout in his first year in F1
Oscar Piastri after taking pole position in the Sprint Shootout / @Mclaren
The 21-year-old Australian driver set the fastest time to take pole position for this afternoon’s Sprint Shootout, followed by team-mate Lando Norris and securing a front row start for Mclaren.
After the bitter taste of Friday, when he was told in the middle of an interview that he lost his third position due to a track limit penalty, Oscar Piastri took pole position in the Sprint Shootout which sets the starting grid for this afternoon’s 100km Sprint race.
The Australian rookie set a time of 1:24:454 to beat team-mate Lando Norris and RedBull driver Max Verstappen, who will start second and third respectively.
Piastri, a Formula 2 and Formula 3 championship winner in his first year in both categories, is having an exceptional start to the Formula 1 season. With a newly signed contract with McLaren until 2026, the driver is already considered a serious contender to compete for the world title in the coming years.
SAINZ FIFTH, ALONSO NINTH DUE TO TRACK LIMITS
Both Spanish drivers were affected by track limit penalties. Sainz had one of his times cancelled at the start of Q3, but managed to put in another quick lap to secure fifth place ahead of team-mate Charles Leclerc, who will start sixth.
Alonso was penalised at the end of the session when the FIA cancelled his best time, and he dropped from fifth to ninth.
PIRELLI DECLARES TYRE PROBLEMS
The Italian company that currently has a monopoly on Formula One tyres, informed the FIA that after examining the tyres used for around 20 laps to check various safety parameters, it had detected a separation between the tread and the carcass of the tyres.
The problem, according to the official FIA statement, is likely to be due to the tyres interfering with the 50mm pyramid kerbs widely used at the circuit, which mark the known limits of the track, and both the FIA and Pirelli believe that a significant number of additional laps with these tyres could cause damage.
After an additional 20 minutes of testing before the qualifying shootout, the tyres will be analysed after the sprint race to make a decision that could force the teams to make three pit stops during Sunday’s race.
