Oscar Piastri ‘catching up’ in ‘surprise’ Italian Grand Prix practice session

McLaren driver and current championship leader Oscar Piastri has admitted he needed to do some “catching up” in Friday practice after sitting out the first session to allow rookie Alex Dunne to find his footing in the MCL39.

The driver also confessed that he was quite “surprised” at just how close the competition is — and at the fact that Williams is looking so strong at Monza.

Oscar Piastri ‘catching up’ after missing Free Practice 1 in Italy

As Oscar Piastri has begun to find his footing in the ultra-competitive world of Formula 1, many pundits have noticed one thing in particular: He’s a driver who likes to build.

In effect, that means Piastri generally utilizes all three pre-grand prix practice sessions to their fullest, making gradual performance gains throughout the weekend in order to put together a clean qualifying and race.

But this weekend, Piastri handed over the wheel of his MCL39 to Alex Dunne for Free Practice 1, meaning he needed to make the most of FP2 — despite a hot seat, a cracked mirror, and a summons to the stewards after the day’s running.

Has that bothered the unflappable Australian?

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No chance.

“Today’s been a good day,” Piastri told FTV after the conclusion of FP2.

“Obviously, not doing FP1, I had a bit of catching up to do in FP2, but I feel like I hit the ground running, and the car felt pretty good.

“Just got the set-up maybe a little bit wrong on the soft, and you know, the  second lap was pretty decent considering it was the second lap on the tyre.

“I’m feeling pretty good. Just need to tweak a little bit more tomorrow and find a little bit of pace, like usual.”

Piastri was asked for his reaction to the tight nature of the field, which he admitted was “a little bit” of a surprise.

“I think it was also who was in the mix was a bit of a surprise,” he explained.

“The Williams have looked strong in both sessions now so let’s see if they’re still there tomorrow. I think it’s going to be a close weekend.”

Piastri’s teammate Lando Norris shared the same sentiment, laughing, “Normally by this point we have like a one-second gap on everyone, but at the moment it looks just a bit close for my liking!”

In direct opposition to Zandvoort, Norris feels that the pace is “not so easy” to find in Monza.

“I definitely think we don’t perform quite at the same level in these low-downforce conditions as when we’re high downforce,” Norris explained.

Despite the concern about performance, McLaren’s two drivers both look impressive. In Free Practice 1, Norris set the sixth-fastest time of the session, which he transformed into the top of the charts in the afternoon’s FP2. Further, when Piastri  got behind the wheel in FP2, he became the fourth-quickest driver in the field.

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