McLaren star Oscar Piastri has assured fans that he plans to overtake Max Verstappen into turn one at the Japanese Grand Prix after the pair qualified on the front row of the grid.
The young Australian pipped team-mate Lando Norris to a spot on the front row for the Japanese GP after both drivers failed to improve on their final qualifying runs.
Verstappen was the favourite to clinch pole position after punching in the fastest time in all three practice sessions ahead of qualifying, and the reigning world champion duly delivered with a stunning pole lap.
Speaking about his chances of beating the Dutchman off the line on Sunday, Piastri said: “It’s the first time I’ve started on the front row for a while. It will be cool. There is only one car ahead to try and overtake so I’ll try and make that happen.”
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Despite producing the best qualifying performance of his F1 career to date, Piastri did have some issues with his session. The Aussie was visibly frustrated about his final lap during his post-quali interview.
“The first lap was pretty solid. I was happy with it,” Piastri explained. “The first chicane I could have done a bit of a better job but it was a good lap.
“Second lap my first sector was good and the next two sectors not so good. But happy to end in P2, it has been a really good weekend for the team so far.”
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Piastri’s McLaren team-mate was full of praise for the young Aussie’s lap after qualifying with Norris stating: “It’s been a very good day for us. As a team, P2 and P3. A great job by Oscar and as usual by Max.
“I was pretty happy with my laps. Tricky. It’s not an easy circuit to put everything together. It’s so quick around here. The smallest of mistakes and it can make a big amount of lap time. I’m happy. It’s a good day and a good position for tomorrow.
“We hope for a good result tomorrow but it’s going to be difficult. Max is doing a very good job, Red Bull are always doing a very good job, so we will do our best to make their life difficult and have a good race tomorrow.”
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