Piastri jokes about needing 'a tow bar' to catch Russell as McLaren resort to cable ties in Baku

While the Australian finished just 0.001 seconds behind second-placed Charles Leclerc in Q3, the deficit to Russell on pole was a massive 0.838s. Asked during the post-qualifying press conference whether he could challenge the Briton in the race, Piastri resorted to sarcasm.

Rather than targeting the win, Piastri said McLaren's race pace looked encouraging but set his sights on the battle behind Russell: "So I think we can hang on and battle in the pack behind George and see what lap Kimi starts coming through as well." Russell took pole by an extraordinary eight-tenths margin.

Piastri's grid slot was a wild reversal of fortune following a scrappy practice day. McLaren had brought a sweeping upgrade package to Baku, but the team experienced problems with the new parts, having to cable-tie them together to get through Friday. Chief designer Rob Marshall confirmed that the team "spotted a crack in a part, and those tie wraps were added to mitigate that and stop it getting any worse." The cable ties carried over into the second hour of practice.

Despite those difficulties, Piastri said the car came to him on low fuel in qualifying. The result meant he outqualified teammate Lando Norris for just the second time in the last nine grands prix, with Stella confirming a separate fuel injection issue had cost Norris power on the straights.

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella told that the result was a positive sign, noting Piastri is making both technical and mental adjustments. "He certainly has made some adaptations from a technical point of view," Stella said. "But above all I think Oscar is also just adapting to his mindset." As GPblog reported after the Spanish Grand Prix, McLaren has been deploying additional engineering resources to Piastri's side of the garage to help him unlock the MCL40.

Stella added that the 2026 regulations demand a rougher approach than Piastri's naturally clean style. "It looks like you can't be too nice with the cars, or at least with the McLaren, with the current regulations," he said. "Hopefully we will keep developing the car and make it just faster and a little bit more driver-friendly."