Oscar Piastri reflected on his day with satisfaction after the sprint qualifying at Interlagos. The Australian stated he felt “much better” behind the wheel of his McLaren MCL39, after struggling in recent weeks to find the right feel in the car.
“The soft tyre behaved a bit differently than I expected,” Piastri shared afterwards. “I had a few big moments in my first lap, which wasn’t ideal – that was a shame. But overall, I felt much better today than in the past few weeks. The practice went well, and we made some adjustments to the setup for the sprint qualifying. It took me a while to get used to it, but in the end, I’m quite satisfied.” Piastri acknowledged there’s still room for improvement, but remains positive about the rest of the weekend. “I would have liked a bit more pace, but we can definitely fight with what we have.”
The McLaren driver also looks ahead to a potentially changeable Saturday in São Paulo. “It’s going to be an interesting day,” said Piastri. “We’ll see what the weather does. I try to seize every opportunity that comes my way. The speed in the car was very good today, so hopefully we can maintain that – whatever happens.” The weather could play a significant role. The Brazilian mainland is currently being battered by a cyclone, with heavy rainfall expected on Saturday during both the sprint race and the qualifying for the São Paulo Grand Prix. For Piastri, it’s a chance to reignite his strong form from earlier this year, now that he’s visibly feeling better in his McLaren.
