Oscar Piastri has explained how "peaking at the right time" was instrumental in handing title rival Lando Norris a crucial blow at the Dutch Grand Prix.
Throughout practice, Norris had dominated Piastri, with the Briton even setting a new all-time Zandvoort track record in Q2 to emerge as the overwhelming favourite for pole.
However, on the first Q3 runs, Piastri clocked a new fastest-ever lap to beat Norris by 0.012s, with the two then failing to go faster on their second runs.
History is now on Piastri's side, with all four Dutch GPs being won from pole since it returned to the F1 calendar in 2021, with Piastri leading Norris by nine points in the standings.
Explaining what was at the heart of his first pole since Spain, Piastri felt his work throughout the weekend came good at exactly the right time.
"That was the definition of peaking at the right time," Piastri explained.
"The whole weekend has felt pretty good, but there have been a couple of corners where I've not been able to go any faster, and I didn't really go any faster with those corners, but I found more elsewhere.
"I'm super happy to come out with the result, but you get the points tomorrow and it was looking like a bit of a tricky weekend, so to come out with that, I am pretty stoked.
"You just have to keep chipping away, and that is a nice thing about having so much practice, you've got time to work on it.
"I improved the parts where I was already not bad and made up the difference that way, but there are still things to try and improve.
"We are both trying to beat each other every weekend, and there are a few variables here you can mix up, so let's see what happens [in the race]."
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