Oscar Piastri (McLaren/3rd) in Baku: “I know, it always sounds a bit silly”

A solid starting position for Oscar Piastri ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix: third on the grid, behind George Russell in the Mercedes and Charles Leclerc in the Ferrari. There are certainly opportunities to make up places on the Baku City Circuit, and the pole-sitter has rarely won here.

Not that we doubt Piastri’s talent, but the 25-year-old from the Grand Prix city of Melbourne has only finished third twice this season – in Japan and Hungary.

His results in the Baku practice sessions didn’t exactly suggest a top finish was on the cards: P6 in the first practice, P8 in the second, P7 in the third, P8 in Q1, but then – seemingly out of nowhere – P4 in Q2 and, ultimately, third fastest overall.

The nine-time Grand Prix winner is clearly pleased with his performance in qualifying and says: “In the final practice session, Lando and I finally managed to do what we’d been struggling with in practice – to get some speed out of the McLaren.”

“People shouldn’t be too surprised by this. If we look at all the practice sessions this season, there have been a few occasions where we’ve had our little problems – only to step up when it really counts.”

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“Sometimes I’m not entirely sure myself what’s going on. I was somewhat surprised when we were sitting in first and second place at one point. But at the end of the day, there was nothing we could do against George. I’m happy that we were able to turn things round, especially on such a tricky track as Baku and on a day when it’s as gusty as it is today.”

“The wind really is something else; as a driver, you’ve got your hands full just keeping the car in a straight line on that long full-throttle section. I know it always sounds a bit silly when we drivers talk about the wind, but the fact is that Formula 1 cars are very sensitive to it. You really have to be on your guard the whole time.”