Oscar Piastri makes big statement as Qatar Grand Prix team radio emerges
Oscar Piastri has raced for McLaren since the start of the 2023 season
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri quipped that it was “nice to be back” over team radio after setting pole position for the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race on Friday.
Piastri was widely regarded as the favourite for the F1 2025 title after his most recent victory at the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
Oscar Piastri: ‘Nice to be back’ with Qatar Grand Prix sprint pole position
However, a run of almost three months without a victory has seen Piastri’s 34-point lead over McLaren teammate Lando Norris turn into a 24-point deficit with two races of the season remaining.
Piastri has finished on the podium just once in the seven races held since winning in the Netherlands, with the Australian level on points with Red Bull driver Max Verstappen following McLaren’s double disqualification at last weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Norris can secure his first world championship by finishing ahead of Piastri and Verstappen this weekend.
Piastri produced a fine performance in Friday’s sprint qualifying session to take pole for Saturday’s mini race in Qatar, surviving a scare on entry to the Turn 4 right hander on his final SQ3 lap.
Oscar Piastri vs Lando Norris: McLaren head-to-head scores for F1 2025
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head qualifying statistics between team-mates
👉 F1 2025: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates
Piastri will share the front row with Mercedes driver George Russell, with Norris forced to settle for third after encountering traffic on his final qualifying lap.
Piastri could not contain his joy over team radio when informed by Tom Stallard, his race engineer, that he had secured pole.
And the Perth-born driver made a quip about his recent poor form over team radio, commenting that it’s “nice to be back” at the front.
The full exchange went as follows:
Stallard: “Nice job, Oscar. That’s P1.”
Piastri: “Ah, f**k yeah! That was uh… yeah, Turn 4 was a little bit lively.”
Stallard: “Yeah, but you hung on to it though.”
Piastri: “Nice! Nicely done. Nice to be back. Thanks everybody.”
Speaking in the parc ferme interviews after taking pole position. Piastri said: “It’s been a good day, which is nice for a change.
“It’s been a day where things have clicked from the start and I think the sprint quali session went really well.
“A pretty big moment on my lap, but it was just enough in the end.
“So thanks to the team. Great car and we’ve looked really good this weekend so far, so I’m pretty happy with that.”
More on Oscar Piastri and McLaren from PlanetF1.com
He later added: “[I’m feeling] pretty good. It’s been a good day.
“From the first lap, we’ve looked competitive and we’ve made some good adjustments into qualifying and everything felt good.
“I think the last lap was pretty solid except for one pretty big moment, but clearly it was good enough still.
“I’m happy. Nice to be back on top so hopefully we can keep it rolling.”
Read next: Lewis Hamilton in awkward nine-word Sky F1 interview after Qatar GP disaster
