Championship leader Oscar Piastri will have to settle for a second-place start at the Hungarian Grand Prix. Charles Leclerc managed to beat the Australian’s time with his final fast lap, relegating the McLaren driver to the second spot on the front row. To his own surprise, as he reveals after the session: ‘I thought my second fast lap in Q3 was faster, but it turned out to be slower.’
Like pole-sitter Charles Leclerc, Oscar Piastri also struggled with the changing weather conditions during the qualifying session. “The wind changed dramatically,” the Australian explains after the session. “It feels a bit sad to blame the wind, but it changed dramatically from Q1 to Q2. As a result, many corners felt very different. My first lap in Q3 was then terrible, and then I thought my second fast lap was faster, but it turned out to be slower. So the conditions were very difficult to judge. Still, I was surprised that we didn’t go faster.”
However, the race at the Hungaroring is not over yet, so Piastri is not entirely disappointed that he had to concede pole position to Leclerc. “Second place is still a good spot, so we’ll see what we can do tomorrow.” The fact that the Monegasque eventually beat the McLarens’ time was not entirely surprising to the Australian. “Charles has been fast all weekend, even this morning. He did a great job, really well done to him. I didn’t expect to be second behind a Ferrari. It’s going to be a fun race tomorrow.”
