Oscar Piastri highlighted the small gains that helped him secure pole at the Dutch GP. Image: XPB Images
Speaking to Karun Chandhok on Sky Sports after qualifying, the McLaren driver outlined the corner-by-corner tweaks that made the difference.
“Turn one’s been a funny one this weekend, because yesterday actually it was one of my strongest corners and then today it was one of my weakest,” Piastri said.
He noted that a shift in wind direction affected the balance of the car, changing the way he approached the entry.
“We kind of had a nice head wind yesterday out of the corner and today was not really a headwind. So I think the way I was driving, it suited yesterday better.”
Piastri highlighted Turn 3 as a crucial point where he could gain time.
“For lack of better words I just sent it pretty much,” he explained. “It’s a corner where you do need to send in a lot of speed to get yourself into the banking.
“The problem is if you don’t do that and you kind of turn earlier, you end up at the wrong angle and you leave a lot of turning to do at the end of the corner.”
Chandhok noted that some drivers were taking different lines to carry momentum through the section, but Piastri said his improvement came largely from refining his own approach rather than copying others.
He also added that the blind crest at Turn 7 presented another challenge.
“It’s pretty scary to be honest, because you kind of come from the right a little bit. You go over a crest and you can’t just see the apex of Turn 7. You really gotta send it,” Piastri said.
He admitted that on his second Q3 lap he had oversteered and bottomed out slightly, costing time, but he was able to manage the tricky section on his final run.
“Honestly that’s where I struggled a lot the whole weekend,” he said. “This lap I got it better.
“It still wasn’t amazing admittedly but it was good enough.”
The result was a record-breaking lap of 1:08.662, giving Piastri his fifth pole of the season and McLaren’s ninth overall — their highest haul since 1999.
He edged Norris by just 0.012 seconds, giving him a strong starting position for Sunday’s race.
“That was the definition of peaking at the right time,” he said.
“I’m super happy to come out with the result, but you get the points tomorrow and it was looking like a bit of a tricky weekend, so to come out with that, I am pretty stoked.”
Looking ahead to the race, Piastri remained focused on a strong start off the line.
“We both had terrible starts here last year, so hopefully, either we both get terrible starts or we both get good starts. Obviously I’d prefer we both get good starts” he said.
“If I can hold a lead then that would make life a bit easier for sure.”