Source : ABC NEWS
Oscar Piastri has said McLaren’s starting positions on the third row for today’s Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix are “about where we kind of belong”.
Piastri qualified fifth for the race, one ahead of his teammate Lando Norris, just as they were one week ago in the season-opener in Melbourne.
Piastri never started his home race after crashing on the way to the grid, but he has been able to bounce back and out-qualify his teammate for a second successive grand prix.
Mercedes have locked out the front row, as they did in this weekend’s sprint race and last weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
Kimi Antonelli, F1’s youngest ever pole sitter, will lead the field alongside teammate George Russell, who has made a perfect start to the 2026 season with victory in the Australian Grand Prix and China sprint.
“The last lap I did was not the greatest, so I think there’s potentially a bit more in [the car],” Piastri said, reflecting on his qualifying performance.
“Reasonably happy with it. I think that’s about where we kind of belong. I felt like in Q3 we maybe got a little bit closer, but we’ve still got some work to do.”
Mercedes has maintained its early-season domination, locking out the front row across three qualifying sessions and Russell winning both races held so far.
When asked about his prospects of being able to take it to the Mercedes duo, as well as Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc who start third and fourth, Piastri said tyre wear was likely to play a significant role.
“Try and get a good start if I can, that’s the first thing, then just see what the tyres do. I think tyres were a pretty big factor in the sprint,” he said.
“We’ll see what our pace is like and if we’ve got enough grip, then maybe we can mix it with the guys at the front.”
ABC Sport will have live blog coverage of the Formula 1 Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, March 15, from 4pm AEDT.
Start time for the F1 Chinese Grand Prix
- 6pm AEDT: NSW, Victoria, ACT, Tasmania
- 5:30pm ACDT: South Australia
- 5pm AEST: Queensland
- 4:30pm ACST: Northern Territory
- 3pm AWST: Western Australia
