Piastri Leads Practice Ahead of Tight Spanish GP Qualifying

The Sun

2 days ago

SERIES LEADER Oscar Piastri expects a tight fight for pole position in Saturday's qualifying for the Spanish Grand Prix after topping the times in Friday practice for McLaren.
The 24-year-old Australian, who leads team-mate Lando Norris by three points in the title race, clocked a best lap of 1 minute and 12.760 seconds to beat Mercedes' George Russell by 0.286 seconds.
On a hot day at the Circuit de Catalunya, four-time champion Max Verstappen of Red Bull was third, three-tenths adrift, ahead of Norris, Ferrari's Charles Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli in the second Mercedes.
Piastri said: 'It's been a bit of an up and down day, ending on an up, which is good, but our competitors look quick.
'Verstappen's been quick all day. Ferrari have been there, Mercedes popped up at the end, so it is going to be a tight battle, but there's definitely things to try and work on.'
He added that McLaren had expected a stronger performance from Red Bull on a track with medium and high-speed corners after struggling in Monaco, where Norris won last Sunday.
'We definitely expected Red Bull to be quick so that's not a big surprise. We're just trying to make the car a bit faster, really, that's all. We've tried a few things today. Some have been good, some not so good and we're learning.'
Norris, who topped FP1, set an identical time to Verstappen in 1:13.070 to take fourth after he had experimented with his set-up.
'I felt better in FP1 than in FP2. We were trying things and will keep trying to improve,' he said.
'It is just tiny things.'
Verstappen observed that the new rule clamping down on flexible front wings had little effect.
'If you look at the standings, obviously not a lot, but from my side, that was also not really expected... Anyway, this track is always enjoyable to drive,' he said.
'It was quite hot out there, especially for the tyres, but it was an ok Friday. I mean, we've had worse Fridays!'
Local hero two-time champion Fernando Alonso was seventh for Aston Martin ahead of Alpine's Pierre Gasly and RB rookies Isack Hadjar and Liam Lawson.
After a promising FP1, when he was third, seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton struggled to 11th in his Ferrari and described it as 'undriveable' on a day when his former Mercedes team-mate Nico Rosberg suggested his age, 40, was affecting him.
Rosberg, the 2016 champion, told SkyF1: 'Even if he's the greatest of all time, at some point you are going to get a little bit slower and that's age related.
'And when you are 40, it's going to happen sooner rather than later.
'Even a tenth makes a huge difference in this sport especially if you are up against some of the greatest from the new generation - namely Charles Leclerc, who is one of the absolute best qualifiers.'