Piastri says McLaren is in a "good place" ahead of Singapore qualifying
Oscar Piastri - Photo: Race Pictures
Updated:
0 Comments
Shayni Solanki joined GPblog in the autumn of 2025 as an NCTJ-qualified motorsport journalist with a degree in History and Classics from the University of Warwick.
Shayni works for TNT Sports/Eurosport covering MotoGP, WEC, WRC, Formula E and Speedway, and has bylines in Motorsport Week, Motor Sport Magazine and Racing Pride. She initially fell in love with motorcycle racing before discovering Formula 1 as a young Ferrari fan.
Oscar Piastri claims that the MCL39 was in a "good place" today after topping the timesheets in FP2 at the Singapore Grand Prix.
The championship leader was fifth fastest this morning during the first practice session around the Marina Bay Street Circuit, avoiding a close call with Lewis Hamilton during the closing stages of FP1.
He went on to secure the overall fastest time in the second practice session, claiming that he has "learned a lot" this afternoon.
"Found my feet on the medium at the end there, and then, yeah, soft felt good," Piastri told F1 TV.
"So, yeah, obviously not much representative kind of race running, but no, the car's been in a good place.
ADVERTISEMENT
"Feel like I've learned a lot through today, and that's the aim of practice. So, it's been a good day."
Oscar Piastri in his garage - Photo: Race Pictures
"Here, qualifying is a massive part of the weekend; it's a massive part everywhere, but I think especially here, it's one of the most important.
"So you'd rather qualify further up and deal with the unknown for the race than qualify further back and you never know exactly what's gonna happen in the race, so [qualifying further back], it's not really gonna help you."
The Kiwi driver has a chance to claim his first pole position at the Marina Bay Street Circuit tomorrow, potentially adding to his tally of five poles this season.
ADVERTISEMENT
Piastri currently sits atop the Drivers' Standings, with a 25-point lead over his teammate Lando Norris, who was 0.483s slower than Piastri in FP2.
Norris secured the fifth fastest time this afternoon behind Fernando Alonso, who put in a brilliant performance in FP1 to go fastest overall.
Read also
GPblog’s newest F1 Paddock Update
Looking to keep track of everything happening in the Formula 1 paddock? GPblog’s F1 Paddock Update video has you covered. Make sure to subscribe to GPblog’s YouTube channel and turn on notifications so you never miss an episode.
ADVERTISEMENT
F1 Paddock Update is back for the Singapore GP just hours after McLaren dropped the news that they were departing from Alex Dunne's deal.
Follow us on Spotify too!
Don’t miss GPblog in Google
Mark us as a preferred source and our articles will appear more often at the top of Top Stories.
Add as a preferred / source on Google