Oscar Piastri explains how he beat Lando Norris to Dutch GP pole

Oscar Piastri has explained how he “peaked at the right time” and beat McLaren teammate Lando Norris to pole position in the Dutch Grand Prix qualifying.

Norris had been the fastest driver at Zandvoort for much of the weekend, topping all three practice sessions in the build-up to qualifying.

Although championship leader Piastri held the edge in the first segment of qualifying, Norris reinstated the status quo in Q2, taking the top spot by 0.090s.

However, when it mattered the most, it was Piastri who emerged at the front, scoring a crucial blow at a circuit Norris triumphed at last year.

In the first Q3 run, Piastri lowered the benchmark to 1m08.662s to claim provisional pole, with the Briton ending up 0.012s adrift in second.

The wind played havoc with the drivers in the second run, and neither of the duo could improve on their initial flying laps.

It was an important turnaround for the Australian, not least because he hadn’t been on pole in F1 since the Spanish Grand Prix back in June.

Speaking afterwards, Piastri explained how he was able to unlock the pace he needed to edge out his teammate, who had been riding high after winning three of the last four grands prix prior to the summer break.

“That was the definition of peaking at the right time,” he said. “I think the whole weekend I’ve felt pretty good, but it’s just been a couple of corners that I’ve not been able to go any faster. I didn’t really go any faster in those corners, but I found some more elsewhere!

“Super happy to come out with the result. Obviously, you’ve still got all the points tomorrow, but yeah, it was looking like a little bit of a tricky weekend so far, so to come out with that, I’m pretty stoked.”

Piastri is known for making tangible progress over the course of a race weekend, but he admitted that it took him longer than usual to improve his pace at Zandvoort.

Ultimately, the 24-year-old was able to find 0.552s between FP3 and Q3, while Norris only gained 0.298s in the same period.

“I think the pace this weekend has been very strong,” said Piastri, who holds a nine-point lead in the standings.

“FP3 seemed very, very strong and I knew that the car wasn’t the problem. It was just that it was taking me a while to improve in some places.

“So, yeah, the team’s done a great job in firstly putting the car in a good place for me and also helping me improve myself.”

Oscar Piastri reveals how he beat Lando Norris when it mattered

On their fastest flying laps, Norris still held the edge in the middle sector, where he gained 0.048s tenths over his teammate.

But with Piastri making crucial gains in the first sector and then having a strong end to the lap, he was able to seal his fifth pole of the year.

Asked if his early weekend struggles were similar to last year, when he finished fourth in the race, he said: “Yes and no. It’s changed a little bit through the weekend. Yesterday, I feel like I made progress in FP2, but then FP3 not so much. 

“Then the wind changed a little bit overnight. So, some of the corners where I was stronger yesterday became a bit weaker again, and it’s kind of moved around a little bit. 

“The middle sector’s not been my favourite this weekend, but I think eventually I got there. Just putting it all together in the same lap was not that easy.

“So, I feel like I’ve improved generally from last year, but clearly, I think qualifying has gone much better.

“And also, this is kind of the first normal Saturday we’ve had in Zandvoort. The last two years we raced here, it’s been a wet FP3 or a wet start of qualifying. Today I was able to get more into a rhythm, and I think that helped as well.”