piastri โฃSets Fastest Time as Verstappen Voices Frustrationโข in Qatar Practice
Doha, Qatarโค – Oscar Piastri of โขMcLaren topped the timesheets in โฃpractice for the Qatarโฃ Grand Prix, setting the fastest lap time. meanwhile, reigning World Championโ Max Verstappen experienced a challenging session, voicing a series of complaints about his Red Bull car’s performance.
Piastri consistently ranked โwithin the top 10, ultimately โขachieving the โคquickest time with soft tires. Landoโฃ Norris,โ Piastri’s teammate, initially struggled but improvedโ to a top-five position โขafter receiving guidance from his team on areas for betterment, ultimately finishingโข behind Piastri. He โwas attemptingโ a final fast lap on soft tires when he ran off track in the final corner,aborting the attempt.
Verstappenโ reported issues early in theโ session, stating after just five laps, “The leftโค front tire is giving way.” He โฃcontinued to express concerns, noting, “Theโ steering suddenly feels strange,” and later, “shifting feels slow and hard.” He alsoโค described the car as “poorly damped,” saying,โฃ “Every time I take โขmy foot off the accelerator, the car jumpsโ like crazy,” and complained of insufficient energy exiting Turn 6.
Sky โ expert Ralf Schumacher commented, “That’s not good.It means that you started โwith the wrong set-up again.”
Red Bull team โขboss Laurent Mekies โdownplayed the issues, telling Sky: “Everything is fine, no problem.” Despiteโฃ the โdifficulties, Verstappen managedโ the third-best time onโ hard tires,โฃ half a second behind Piastriโ and Norris, โand remained overโค 0.5 secondsโฃ off the pace on soft tires.
The Qatar Grand Prix weekend continuesโข on Fridayโข with sprint qualifying atโฃ 6:30 p.m. local time.
