Oscar Piastri explains: These rivals will be breathing down McLaren’s neck

Many F1 observers regarded the McLaren drivers as the clear favourites for the race weekend at Zandvoort. There is a simple reason for this: the track layout of the Dünenkurs is similar to that of the Hungaroring, where Lando Norris secured the first Grand Prix victory of the year for the historic Woking-based team.

World Champion Norris managed to set the second-fastest lap in the sole free practice session – the fastest time was set by championship leader Kimi Antonelli in his Mercedes. Oscar Piastri, on the other hand, had to settle for sixth place, finishing more than six-tenths of a second slower than the teenager from Italy. He was also the slower of the two McLaren stars in the subsequent sprint qualifying session.

Norris took second place, just 41 thousandths of a second behind Antonelli’s team-mate George Russell, who secured pole position. Piastri was 99 thousandths off the pace, leaving him in fourth place – ahead of Antonelli, who had damaged his underbody after running wide in SQ1.

For Piastri, that was little consolation. After the session, he explained that he was struggling with a familiar problem that has plagued him all season: “My lap on the soft tyres wasn’t that good, and I feel like that’s been the case quite often this year. We put the soft tyres on the car and it doesn’t feel as good as it does on the medium tyres.”

“However, I was able to improve compared to free practice,” said the Melbourne-born driver, taking solace in that. “We changed a few things and I was much happier with the car. That’s the positive we can take away – we were able to improve significantly as the day went on.”

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At the same time, the driver currently seventh in the World Championship said regretfully: “I was pretty close, and with a better lap I’d probably have been good enough for pole. But I’m constantly learning and improving, and that’s the most important thing.” Looking ahead to the competition, he predicted: “It’s going to be very close between us, Ferrari and Mercedes. That’s why every little detail will count. Let’s see what we can achieve.”