Piastri says late tyre scare only concern in commanding Sprint win

Oscar Piastri may have looked serenely in control as he stormed to victory in Saturday’s Qatar Grand Prix Sprint, but the McLaren driver has revealed that his closing laps were far more tense than they appeared.

The Australian comfortably headed home George Russell and team-mate Lando Norris to trim the latter’s championship lead, while Max Verstappen’s fourth place lifted Piastri to a clear second in the standings.

Yet behind the calm exterior, a sudden tyre issue left him anxiously monitoring vibrations as the race wound down.

Pirelli’s imposed maximum 25-lap mandatory tyre window – introduced following concerns over potential structural wear at Losail – had been hanging over the Sprint from the start. And in the final phase, Piastri felt exactly the kind of worrying behaviour teams had been warned about.

“Yeah, like five or six laps to the end, I think it was front left was starting to vibrate a bit and I hadn’t locked up or anything,” he told reporters.

“So it’s never a great sign when you start getting vibrations out of nowhere. So I think it was a similar thing for other people as well.

"So yeah, we’ll see if there’s any concerns with that. But that was pretty much the only concern.”

The scare didn’t derail his run to the flag, though it did ensure the final laps were anything but relaxed.

Relief, Rhythm and a Return to Form

The victory marked Piastri’s first top-three result since Monza, and he admitted the Sprint felt like a welcome reconnection with the front of the field.

“Yeah, it was nice,” he said. “It was nice to have some clean air again, it makes a pretty big difference. “Just nice to get off to a smooth start to the weekend really. Yeah, the car’s been good so far and I feel like I’ve been able to gel with it pretty good.

“So yeah, obviously the kind of short part of the weekend’s over and now the real stuff begins.”

Lusail has historically suited the 23-year-old, and he suggested the track’s characteristics played only a small part in his strong form.

“I mean, it’s definitely a different circuit,” he replied. “Incredibly high speed, much higher grip surface as well. But I think honestly, the last couple of weekends have been not bad in terms of pace.

• Qatar Grand Prix - Sprint Race results

“It’s just been mistakes or things out of our control going wrong. So I think this weekend the pace has been probably a little bit stronger, but everything’s just been smooth.

“So I think that’s the biggest difference.”

Eyes on Qualifying, Not Big Set-Up Swings

With qualifying only hours away, Piastri indicated McLaren would likely avoid dramatic overnight changes to a car that has been behaving well.

“I’ll find out shortly, but the car’s been good so far,” he said. “So if it is, it’ll be tweaks rather than anything major.”

If the Sprint was anything to go by, the smoothness he’s searching for may already be within reach — tyre wobbles notwithstanding.

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