Piastri Poised In Monaco

Oscar Piastri is ideally placed for a strong weekend of FIA Formula 2 racing on the streets of Monaco after qualifying third.

His first visit to Monte Carlo since he raced in Formula Renault went well, as he was only 0.458 seconds behind the benchmark time set by French teenager Theo Pourchaire.

Piastri will start third because qualifying at Monte Carlo is split into two groups to minimise congestion, which results in a two-step grid with cars from one session on one side for the start and the other group on the opposite side. Because Pourchaire was quickest of all, he took pole with Piastri behind and the rest of their group sitting on the odd-numbered spots.

“I think the aim of the game here in Monaco is to qualify as high as you can and then keep your nose clean for the rest of the weekend. I’d say we’ve done a very good job of that,” said Piastri.

“We’ve also made good progress from Qualifying in Bahrain as well, so it’s an upwards trajectory which is nice.

“It probably took be a little bit to build into the session to be honest. We had a pretty strong Free Practice … and then I saved myself with my final lap in qualifying. Very happy to be P2 in the group and P3 overall.”

After the hot laps for the Prema Powerteam he could not disguise his excitement at competing at the world’s favourite F1 circuit.

“It’s just awesome to be back here and I’m loving it so far. It is an awesome feeling, I’m super happy.”

But he also highlighted the differences between his current F2 car and the much slower Formula Renault which gave him his introduction to Monaco.

“It’s a lot different to a Formula Renault car, I can tell you that. It’s a much bigger car, much faster, and the braking power is very different.

“It’s still a very daunting challenge and I’m sure everyone felt like everything is coming at you at 1000 kph in those first couple laps of free practice.”