McLaren drivers were hoping for close competition at the Italian Grand Prix, but admitted that Max Verstappen was not the main predicted threat heading into the race weekend.
Verstappen took pole position and took the fourth pole this year as he is the fastest in both the first and second runs. His second since Saudi Arabia, but shows a considerable turnaround compared to a year ago when Red Bull struggled so badly.
“I don’t think it’s a big surprise here that it’s much closer,” Piastri said after qualifying for third place. “Was Max at the top of the list of competitors this weekend? I thought Ferrari was on the way, but that’s based on last year.
“In general, when competition approaches, Max was usually the closest thing, so I don’t think that’s a big surprise, but a bit compared to last year.”
Rand Norris hit Piastri in second place, but says it’s not a big surprise that the defending champion could be a threat, even if he was piped by Verstappen on the final lap and Monza is not predicted to be a strong Red Bull trajectory.
“Looking at the previous races, even if we were incredible… there were a lot of places where Max beat us in quite a few races this season,” Norris said. “He made his first appearances in many races this season. Even in the third quarter last weekend, the gap wasn’t huge. Everyone was pretty close.
“We came to the track and lost a tenth, he got a tenth, and that’s the difference that’s all. I’m not saying that it’s a surprise. The real surprise is compared to last year.
“At the same time, when there are strong teams, drivers and powerful teams in general that have been winning over the years, they hope to improve from last year and from their difficulties at the beginning of this season to where they are now.
Norris is hoping McLaren will have an advantage in terms of racepace as he is about to begin his advance to Piastri’s championship lead, but Saturday’s qualifying session offers a warning that Red Bull’s improvements can be converted to Sunday’s performance.
“I definitely hope for that,” he said. “Everyone knows that our race pace is probably greater than our quality, and we have proven many times, but it has improved significantly since last year.
“I don’t think Red Bull was that good when he came over the weekend. As soon as he made his first few runs it was clear they took some good steps compared to last season. His race pace was good on Friday.
