Victory in Miami, one lap away from victory in Imola: McLaren was the team of the hour on the last two race weekends in Formula 1. In Monaco, the team had to admit defeat to Ferrari and Mercedes. At least on Friday training. No problem for Oscar Piastri: In Monte Carlo, the driver is more important than the car anyway!
Lando Norris: Charles Leclerc and Mercedes ahead in Monaco
“We looked good out there, but not in terms of speed,” Lando Norris says with a touch of gallows humor after Friday’s training. The MCL38 in the Senna look still has room for improvement for qualifying. Especially in Sainte-Devote and in the swimming pool chicane. “It wasn’t bad, but it’s always difficult here.”
“Everyone is closer together, simply because it’s a short and unusual track,” explains the Brit. The key to success in qualifying: good grip in the slow corners, good balance, and good handling of the McLaren over the bumps. “But not too soft, otherwise you lose overall performance!”
Oscar Piastri: In Monaco, the driver is more important than the Formula 1 car
Oscar Piastri only finished 12th in FP2. The reason was quickly found: unlike his teammate, the Australian did not drive a single lap on the soft tyre. He had already used it up in FP1. “At that point, there was a high probability of rain in FP2, so we wanted to do an early run on the soft tyre,” he explains.
This lap was (in the not very representative) first free practice session at least good for P2, just behind the surprisingly good Lewis Hamilton. Despite the alternative tyre tactic, Piastri is satisfied. Decent day, everything is up for grabs in qualifying. “To be honest, we could be first, but we could also be tenth. Even Aston looked pretty decent today. Alonso looked good,” the 23-year-old estimates.
“The driver will make the difference with so many fast cars. Whoever gets the lap perfect will be on pole,” explains Oscar Piastri. Apart from the special paint job, the drivers in the principality cannot count on any major updates – it was only in Miami that McLaren rebuilt almost their entire car. In Monaco, they will stick with a new rear wing and beam wing.
The world champions had unusual problems on Friday training. Charles Leclerc took the role of favourite from Max Verstappen, and the team from Milton Keynes is on red alert instead. Read about it here!