Oscar Piastri silences David Coulthard with stunning pole at Qatar Grand Prix

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Oscar Piastri continued his perfect weekend at the Qatar Grand Prix by taking pole position on Saturday. He pipped McLaren teammate and title rival Lando Norris with his final effort.

Piastri had already converted pole in dominant fashion in the Sprint and he continued to reign supreme even after his rivals had the chance to change their set-up.

Norris was up after the first runs in Q3 but he wasn’t able to set a second time after running wide in the first sector. That opened the door for Piastri, who went just over a tenth-quicker with a track record.

The gap heading into Sunday’s race is 22 points. If Norris outscores Piastri by four or more, he will win the world championship.

Oscar Piastri praised for ‘beautiful’ Qatar Grand Prix pole lap

F1TV pundit Jolyon Palmer was particularly impressed by Piastri’s bravery at the end of the lap. The Australian showed ‘massive commitment’, which is perhaps appropriate given his position in the title race.

“What a lap as well,” said Palmer. “Final lap, high-grip circuit. Super quick. Massive commitment.

“The car looked absolutely on rails. The way he turned into the penultimate corner there… the front end was so sharp. But it stuck!”

All things considered… the lap of the season?

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Palmer’s fellow pundit David Coulthard agreed that it was a ‘beautiful’ lap. It would have been difficult to recover psychologically if Norris had halted his momentum.

“Beautiful, beautiful lap to behold,” Coulthard remarked. “Boy did he did need it. Off the back of that Sprint victory, had it slipped away…”

Piastri has regained top form as he tries to keep his title hopes alive. After failing to score a pole in the last nine qualifying sessions, he’s now scored two in a row – no wonder engineer Tom Stallard remarked that they were ‘like buses’.

David Coulthard said Oscar Piastri was tired – he’s wrong

Speaking during the Las Vegas weekend, Coulthard said Piastri was experiencing ‘fatigue’, which was why he’d lost his way on track. By contrast, the more experienced Norris was able to ‘pace himself’.

But Piastri has proven in Lusail that he’s far from tired. If anything, he looks revitalised.

It seems that Piastri’s slump was track-related. Andrea Stella says McLaren were fully expecting him to improve on higher-grip circuits that better suited to his driving style.

In the end, the explanation may have been technical rather than psychological. Either way, Piastri knows he still has important weaknesses to address this winter.