Oscar Piastri explains qualifying advantage after 'cheeky' Lando Norris tactic

Oscar Piastri has revealed where he managed to recover pace during his final qualifying lap ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix.

Piastri pipped team-mate Norris to pole position at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, clinching his fourth pole of the year.

Norris held the advantage after the opening round of laps, as he started his initial effort after picking up a slight slipstream from his team-mate on the start-finish straight.

The move was not seemingly coordinated by the McLaren team as Piastri labelled it as “cheeky” over the team radio.

However, on the second time of asking, Piastri was able to find the time and secure pole with the largest margin seen so far this year at just over two-tenths of a second.

Explaining where he found pace on his final lap, Piastri explained: “I improved quite a lot in Turn 1, actually. 

“Then there were a couple of other places in the lap where I've been struggling a bit all day. 

“I don't know if I necessarily did better, but it all just came to me, mainly in the first half of the lap and in the second half I could just about hang on.

“It wasn't the perfect lap, but I think around here, with the tyres going off so much through the lap, it's it's very tough to do that.”

Piastri started the 2024 edition of the race in Barcelona from 10th after having his lap time deleted for exceeding track limits.

With the Australian firmly in the hunt for the drivers' championship, Piastri hailed the turnaround from 12 months ago.

“Last night, we found some pace,” Piastri noted. “Today, the car has been mega and I feel like I've been able to put in some good laps as well. 

“So thank you to the team for all the hard work. This was a pretty miserable scene 12 months ago, so to have turned it around in the best way is a great result.”