Oscar Piastri feels he has the pace to cover Lando Norris during the Dutch Grand Prix and is “very proud” of the way he made progress after a challenging start to the weekend.
A year ago, Piastri was struggling compared to Zandvoort’s Norris, but this weekend he ran the pole position for 0.012 seconds, leading the entire race. Also setting the fastest lap will mark his first grand slam of poles, victory, and fastest laps, leading all the laps, Piastri says he can respond to Norris’ threats before his teammates retire due to reliability issues.
“I think qualifying was key this weekend,” Piastri said. “Through the free practice sessions, it looked like a difficult Zandvoort again, but we left, tried to find time, try to fine-tune the car here and there, but really try to improve the way I drive.
“So I was just trying to clean it up and it got better when it became an issue, and throughout the race I felt like I had a good pace too, and I used it when I needed it.
“It was a really good race. I felt like I was in control all the time. Obviously, the reboot is always the right moment, but I felt like I was in control.
It is clear that the previous year’s advancements in championship leader Piastri’s year-olds will be seen over three seasons in Formula 1 so far, and he produced team principal Andrea Stella, who was called “Oscar-like weekend” in the Netherlands.
“It happened a few times this year, where it got a little late and got better as the weekend progressed,” Piastri added. “The difference between this year, last year and last year was a slow weekend, a slow middle and a late ending.
“I think it’s a good thing to actually find time as the weekend goes on. Is that the ideal way to do it? Is it intentionally? Not always. Of course, I was trying to build a little faster than this weekend.
“So, it may be a bit late to get there, but I was very pleased with where I went to qualify. I don’t expect the world. I did my best to see what happened, and in the end it was enough.
