6 hours ago
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ESPN
Aug 2, 2025, 02:22 PM ET
Oscar Piastri said qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix was "bizarre and somewhat frustrating" arsenic rival Charles Leclerc took a daze rod position, leaving him down successful 2nd spot and Lando Norris successful third.
Championship person Piastri, who was quickest successful last practice earlier connected Saturday, was conscionable 0.026 seconds disconnected Leclerc successful Q3, portion Norris topped both of Friday's signifier sessions.
As the clouds drew successful and upwind picked up betwixt Q2 and Q3, changing conditions saw the cars execute otherwise successful the last shootout for rod presumption with the McLaren drivers incapable to amended their laptimes.
Asked by reporters however to sum up the qualifying session, Piastri said: "Depends wherever you're sat. If you're sat wherever Charles is, fantastic. If you're sat wherever I'm sat, bizarre and somewhat frustrating.
"But yeah, I mean, I deliberation the conditions wholly changed, and it was conscionable weird. My archetypal thigh felt unspeakable due to the fact that I was pushing excessively overmuch and benignant of with the upwind absorption from the archetypal 2 sessions successful mind. So, past I felt similar I did a amended occupation connected the 2nd thigh of managing expectations, and it was adjacent worse.
"So yeah, a bizarre session, but I request to look backmost and spot what differences it made. Things decidedly felt much tricky for myself arsenic good successful Q3, but I deliberation for everybody it would person been difficult. So that's not our excuse."
When the aforesaid question was enactment to Norris, who starts connected the 2nd enactment adjacent to fourth-place George Russell, helium said: "I'll conscionable transcript and paste, yeah. Exactly the same.
"Q2 felt precise good, felt assured to improve. So, into Q3, aiming for a akin thigh time, akin limits, and conscionable felt beauteous dreadful. Same things.
"I wasn't amazed that I was a 1:15.4 successful the archetypal run. But successful the 2nd lap, it's conscionable hard to cognize however overmuch much to propulsion oregon not push. And I was like, oh, it's a overmuch amended lap, and I was 1:15.4 again. So conscionable akin thing.
"The upwind has specified large effects connected the car erstwhile you're driving. It's rather casual for it to beryllium fractional a 2nd swing. So yeah, frustrating due to the fact that we decidedly look to person a bully gap, but successful Q3 it seemed to drift distant from america arsenic a squad much than it did for others."
Second connected the grid could possibly enactment successful Piastri's favour, arsenic helium took his maiden Formula 1 triumph astatine past year's Hungarian Grand Prix from 2nd connected the grid astatine the Hungaroring.
Looking up to Sunday's contention -- the past expansive prix earlier the August interruption -- helium said helium was feeling "pretty confident.
"It was bully past year, truthful hopefully it tin beryllium bully again this year. But yeah, similar Charles said, there's immoderate rainfall around. We'll spot if that impacts the race. But I deliberation our gait has been good, but Charles has been speedy each weekend, successful definite sessions.
"It is simply a precise hard way to overtake on, and it's not going to beryllium the easiest spot to effort and regain the lead," helium added.
- Follow unrecorded substance commentary of the expansive prix from 1:15 p.m. BST connected Sunday connected ESPN.
