“Started on the right note”: Piastri after taking sprint pole in Qatar

Written by Charlotte Mui

Credit: Formula One

Oscar Piastri currently sits 24 points adrift of his McLaren teammate in the championship. With two races and a sprint left, it is not an impossible margin to overturn, but it is certainly not an easily surmountable one either, especially given his current form. Odds for the title are heavily tilted in Lando Norris' favour.

After taking a dominant victory in Zandvoort, Piastri’s form took a huge dip, leading to a dramatic 58-point swing in Norris’ favour. The gap would’ve been even bigger, if not for the double disqualification handed to both McLaren drivers in Vegas last time out; a twist that prevented Norris from extending his advantage further and brought Max Verstappen back into play.

As it stands, the Australian’s title chances are slim, but not extinguished. Should he be able to tap into his early season form, he may yet have a chance to take the title in Abu Dhabi.

Encouragingly, he seems to have taken a significant step in that direction today in Qatar. Piastri topped the timesheets in free practice 1 before taking sprint pole—his first pole position of any kind since the Dutch Grand Prix in August.

Looking joyous after the session, Piastri reflected on what seemed like a long-awaited return to form: “It’s been a good day. From the first lap we’ve looked competitive and we’ve made some good adjustments into qualifying. Everything felt good.

“I think the last lap was pretty solid except for one pretty big moment but clearly it was good enough still. Happy, nice to be back on top, hopefully we can keep it rolling.”

Norris, on the other hand, will start third. Piastri admitted he was unsure whether his rival was able to get a clean final lap in: “At the end it got pretty messy with trying to get a lap in so I don’t know if Lando got his lap in properly.”

Nevertheless, Piastri has regained some confidence today and will be aiming for a clean sweep this weekend. As he put it himself, he has “started on the right note.”

The sprint race in Qatar will be underway tomorrow at 14:00 BST, and the result will further help indicate whether there will still in a championship fight going into the season finale.