Oscar Piastri pinpoints one thing from McLaren that potentially cost him pole position against Lewis Hamilton for the F1 Chinese GP sprint

Oscar Piastri feels that McLaren's run plan, where the team went very early in the session for two separate push laps, potentially cost him pole position. Throughout the sprint shootout, it did appear that the Woking-based squad had an advantage over the rest of the grid. The lap times put together by both drivers were very impressive, and it did appear that the chasing pack was a step behind.

This was more or less expected as McLaren has come to China on the back of a positive weekend in Australia. Lando Norris had secured pole position from teammate Oscar Piastri, and the thing that stood out the most was the gap to the second-fastest team, Red Bull.

Verstappen was almost four-tenths behind in P3, and that set the expectations of a dominant advantage for the reigning champions. During the sprint shootout as well, both Norris and Piastri appeared to have a decent buffer over the chasing pack. It wasn't until SQ3 that Lewis Hamilton caught up with the McLaren duo.

Both Norris and Piastri opted for two-push laps in SQ3 while everyone else went with one. In the end, that proved to be the difference maker as Hamilton got pole position and was less than a tenth faster than Piastri.

Talking about the session, Piastri was more or less satisfied with the proceedings but felt that the run plan was where the team messed up. He said (via Motorsport Week),

“Yeah, SQ1 and SQ2 felt good, then SQ3 we tried something a bit different and went out much earlier and tried two laps, which I’m not sure was the best thing in the end. But I think it’s something we need to have a look at. But the pace in the car is still very strong and I’m still confident to fight from third tomorrow,” said Piastri.

Oscar Piastri on the challenge of the gripper surface

For this season, the track surface has been changed and a more grippier tarmac is being used. The tarmac has seen Hamilton break Sebastian Vettel's lap record from the 2018 F1 season. Oscar Piastri felt that the new track surface was an interesting addition as it was a bit peaky at times. He said,

“It’s been difficult. I think with the track surface, it’s got a lot of grip, but it’s peaky. I think it’s been pretty tough all day to keep on top of the car. Honestly, I think we did a good job of trying to tame it for Sprint Quali, just maybe got the run plan a bit wrong. It’s been an interesting challenge, the grip has been a lot better than last season which is nice. But some things we can do better tomorrow.”

McLaren has looked strong around the Shanghai International circuit in general and Piastri should feel confident about his prospects as he starts the race in P3.