China’s Grand Prix weekend was a great example of how competitive this season is when you look at the two grids set during the sprint event.
On Friday, the front row will consist of Ferrari (Lewis Hamilton) and Red Bull (Max Verstappen), with the pair finishing first and third in the sprint, respectively.
They came on Saturday afternoon and were two totally different teams securing two positions in second place with the second McLaren (Oscar Piastri) and Mercedes (George Russell).
And for Piastry, the timing would not have been that good. It was his first Grand Prix pole position, previously only setting the fastest time in the sprint qualifying session, giving him a huge chance to bounce back from disappointment from Melbourne.
A surprising record of leaving his home race and securing the Australian’s podium finish – not to mention the victory, Piastri was a drift of about 23 points by teammate Rand Norris in the driver’s championship. It may have been in the early days, but it was a huge buffer to reveal what Norris could be his biggest title rival.
The two McLaren drivers are expected to score points from each other, but if there are other candidates it could be overturned this season and this season. So establishing a lead early could be particularly important, with Piastri taking the first step to reduce it in second place in the sprint.
17 points ago, Piastri brought that momentum into qualifying, and he carved the first he’d been coming for a long time, even though it didn’t feel like an obvious omission from his resume given his performance in the qualifying rounds in the past.
“That means a lot,” Piastri said. “I’ve been approaching a few times now, and it’s nice to finally have my first pole. I had some Sprint poles, but the first Grand Prix pole makes a little more sense.
“I’m working so hard for that and it feels like the start of the season is strong. Clearly, the outcome in Melbourne was disappointing, but I’m happy I’d done a good job otherwise and have become a Paul.”
It is difficult to oppose the points of piastry. He was headed for Norris in qualifying in Australia, but was a real threat to victory until he got on track with his slick tyres when it rained. He explained that it was the only mistake of the weekend, but it had a much greater impact than his teammates.
Currently he outperforms Norris in both sessions in China, but he also did a solid job clearing Verstappen and scoring seven of the up to eight points offered in the sprint.
The pole position of the Piastris is even more important given the importance of track positions in Shanghai. It was demonstrated by Lewis Hamilton’s victory in the sprint and how he can pull away from McLaren in the closing stages. Behind Verstappen, using more tires to pass the Red Bull, he hurt Piastri a little more, leaving little available rubber on the last lap.
“I think the biggest thing is to make sure your tires survive,” Piastri said. “I think we said this morning that we could look after their tires, but that wasn’t really true — management The best way was the fastest.
“For my own sprint, I felt like I did a reasonable job. It was just hard to go past Max. But I think we saw Lewis coming forward all morning.
“I think it will be a pretty interesting race, and it is probably the most degree we’ve seen and the most grain we’ve seen in a long time.
Piastri faces multiple threats, including Russell and Verstappen, and will remain in how the season is shaped to do something particularly special this weekend and beyond. But perhaps the biggest challenge is that it will likely come from his teammates. He understands how difficult it is for McLaren to take advantage of the regular, obvious pace.
“We’ve said it many times. It’s definitely the fastest car, but it’s still hard to drive,” Norris said. “We can do a good sector at times with ease, but we can put together the rap. As Oscar said, he’s down two-half, he’s doing it and it’s stuck. But it seems difficult to figure out how to do it consistently.
“When you do such a good job, it can easily become the fastest car. So some things and my driving will become more of my driving.
“So, a lot of different things, just that Oscar does a good job and I’m not doing the perfect job.
All of these factors show where McLaren’s drivers are being tested, but if he can tame them, Piastri will have a great opportunity to bounce off the disappointment of style from his Melbourne disappointment, as long as he can maintain his advantage from the line.
Still, either Verstappen (2 points for Norris) or Russell (after six points) will realistically lead the championship after this weekend, even with a Piastri victory. The McLaren Driver Battle is far from the only battle to watch.