Damon Hill drops 2-word reaction to Oscar Piastri securing pole position for the F1 Chinese GP

Former F1 world champion Damon Hill gave a short reaction to McLaren driver Oscar Piastri claiming his first pole position at the 2025 Chinese Grand Prix. The Aussie driver has looked the more consistent of the two McLaren drivers as his teammate Lando Norris has made more mistakes throughout the three competitive sessions thus far.

The 23-year-old backed up his credible Sprint performance when he finished behind the eventual race winner Lewis Hamilton after overtaking Max Verstappen by finally getting his first pole position in the sport.

Piastri had come close on several occasions over one lap but was always pipped by his rivals, despite previously taking a poll in the Sprint qualifying. At the end of the 2025 Chinese GP qualifying session, he was under a tenth behind Mercedes driver George Russell.

McLaren shared an image of Oscar Piastri celebrating his feat on their social media platform. Damon Hill reposted the image on his Instagram Story and gave a two-word reaction to the Aussie's pole position, saying:

"Quite confidence."

Snapshot of Damon Hill's story on Oscar Piastri...Credits-Instagram

The McLaren was just 0.080s behind Lewis Hamilton's fastest lap in Sprint qualifying on Friday and displayed consistent race pace over 19 lap Sprint race as well.

Oscar Piastri reflects on his first pole position in F1

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri stated that his pole position achievement "meant a lot" to him given he was close on several instances in the 2024 and 2025 seasons.

In his post-quali press conference, the two-time F1 race winner said:

"Yeah, I mean it means a lot. Been close a few times now and yeah, nice to finally have my first pole. I've had a couple of Sprint poles, but to have the first Grand Prix pole means a bit more. So yeah, pretty pumped, to be honest.

"I've worked hard for it and I feel like the start of the season has been strong. Obviously the result in Melbourne was a shame, but I feel like I've been doing a good job otherwise and yeah, just happy to have ended up on pole."

While previewing his chances of scoring the first victory of the year, the McLaren driver added:

"I think just making sure your tires survive is the biggest thing. I think we saw this morning that those who could—or I would say look after their tires, but that wasn’t even really true—the people who could manage the best one way or another were the quickest."

Oscar Piastri has bounced back perfectly from his disappointment at last weekend's Australian Grand Prix when he slipped off into the grass in changeable conditions and threw away a potential victory in front of his home fans.