{"id":1059,"date":"2026-08-21T15:14:41","date_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:14:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/?p=1059"},"modified":"2026-08-21T15:14:42","modified_gmt":"2026-08-21T18:14:42","slug":"oscar-piastri-admits-disappointment-in-zandvoort-sprint-qualifying-could-have-been-on-pole","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/oscar-piastri-admits-disappointment-in-zandvoort-sprint-qualifying-could-have-been-on-pole\/","title":{"rendered":"Piastri admits disappointment in Zandvoort Sprint qualifying: &#8220;Could have been on pole&#8221;"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Key takeaways<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Frustrated by soft tyres:<\/strong> Oscar Piastri qualified 4th for the Dutch GP Sprint, admitting disappointment after feeling the soft compound compromised his balance in SQ3.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Covered by a tenth:<\/strong> Despite missing out on top spot, Piastri finished just 0.099s behind Sprint pole-sitter George Russell as <a href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/mclaren-innovates-with-wavy-rear-wing-to-target-mercedes-at-dutch-gp\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">McLaren&#8217;s new wavy rear wing update<\/a> proved competitive.<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Turnaround from practice:<\/strong> The Australian praised setup tweaks made after Free Practice 1, where he had ended up over half a second adrift of teammate Lando Norris.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oscar Piastri experienced mixed emotions after securing a row-two start in Sprint Qualifying for the <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/\">Formula 1<\/a> Dutch Grand Prix at Circuit Zandvoort. Despite qualifying 4th and finishing just 0.099s off George Russell&#8217;s pole time, the Australian driver admitted to feeling a sense of disappointment.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Piastri noted that his McLaren MCL40 handled exceptionally well on the medium compound during SQ1 and SQ2. However, upon switching to the soft compound for the pole-deciding SQ3 shootout, he felt the overall balance fell away.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Speaking after the session, Piastri addressed the fine margins at the front, where teammate Lando Norris qualified 2nd and Charles Leclerc placed 3rd.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;A little bit,&#8221; Piastri admitted when asked if he was disappointed. &#8220;The lap on the soft tyre wasn&#8217;t that great. I feel like it&#8217;s been like that many times this year: you put the soft tyre on and the balance of the car isn&#8217;t quite as good as on the medium.&#8221;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Despite his frustration with the final run, Piastri emphasized the significant step forward made by McLaren following a difficult sole practice session earlier in the day.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Compared to what I had this morning in practice, I was much more satisfied. We changed a few things and I was a lot happier. So I think that&#8217;s the positive takeaway: the progress from this morning,&#8221; he explained.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;Obviously, it was very tight. I feel like with a better lap, maybe we could have taken pole. But I&#8217;m learning and improving, and that&#8217;s the most important thing,&#8221; Piastri concluded.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Formula 1 action continues at Zandvoort with Saturday&#8217;s Sprint race, followed by main Qualifying for the 2026 Dutch Grand Prix. <strong><a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/\">GRANDE PR\u00caMIO<\/a><\/strong> covers all track activities live from Zandvoort with reporter Leonid Kliuev. Follow all paddock updates on our <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/news\/\">news page<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Sprint Qualifying Top 5 Results: Dutch Grand Prix 2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Pos<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Driver<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Team<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Time<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Gap<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>1<\/strong><\/td><td>George Russell<\/td><td>Mercedes<\/td><td>1:11.567<\/td><td>\u2014<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>2<\/strong><\/td><td>Lando Norris<\/td><td>McLaren<\/td><td>1:11.608<\/td><td>+0.041s<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>3<\/strong><\/td><td>Charles Leclerc<\/td><td>Ferrari<\/td><td>1:11.622<\/td><td>+0.055s<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>4<\/strong><\/td><td>Oscar Piastri<\/td><td>McLaren<\/td><td>1:11.666<\/td><td>+0.099s<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>5<\/strong><\/td><td>Andrea Kimi Antonelli<\/td><td>Mercedes<\/td><td>1:11.794<\/td><td>+0.227s<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Session schedule: Dutch Grand Prix 2026<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-table\"><table class=\"has-fixed-layout\"><thead><tr><td><strong>Session<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>Local time (CEST)<\/strong><\/td><td><strong>UTC<\/strong><\/td><\/tr><\/thead><tbody><tr><td><strong>Free Practice 1<\/strong><\/td><td>Friday, August 21 \u2013 12:30<\/td><td>10:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Sprint Qualifying<\/strong><\/td><td>Friday, August 21 \u2013 16:30<\/td><td>14:30<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Sprint Race<\/strong><\/td><td>Saturday, August 22 \u2013 12:00<\/td><td>10:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Qualifying<\/strong><\/td><td>Saturday, August 22 \u2013 16:00<\/td><td>14:00<\/td><\/tr><tr><td><strong>Race<\/strong><\/td><td>Sunday, August 23 \u2013 15:00<\/td><td>13:00<\/td><\/tr><\/tbody><\/table><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Broadcast guide: Where to watch in the United States<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>United States (Eastern Time \/ ET)<\/strong>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>Broadcaster:<\/strong> Apple TV<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Sprint Race:<\/strong> Saturday, August 22 \u2013 06:00 ET<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Qualifying:<\/strong> Saturday, August 22 \u2013 10:00 ET<\/li>\n\n\n\n<li><strong>Race:<\/strong> Sunday, August 23 \u2013 09:00 ET<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Frequently asked questions (FAQ)<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>1. Where will Oscar Piastri start the Dutch GP Sprint race?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Oscar Piastri will start 4th on the grid for Saturday&#8217;s Sprint race in Zandvoort.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>2. How far was Piastri from George Russell&#8217;s pole time?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Piastri missed out on pole position by 0.099s, finishing 0.058s behind teammate Lando Norris.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><strong>3. Did McLaren introduce updates at Zandvoort?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Yes, <a target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/f1\/mclaren-innovates-with-wavy-rear-wing-to-target-mercedes-at-dutch-gp\/\">McLaren debuted a new wavy rear wing<\/a> along with revised brake ducts and a modified engine cover.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><\/h2>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Oscar Piastri closed Sprint Qualifying within a tenth of George Russell to secure 4th, but lamented a loss of balance on soft tyres while praising McLaren&#8217;s turnaround from practice.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1020312423,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"42wp_featured_image_caption":"Oscar Piastri felt McLaren made positive progress from practice despite missing out on pole","42wp_featured_image_credits":"McLaren","42wp_featured_video":"","42wp_featured_image_hidden":false,"42wp_authors_list":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[10,112,262],"42wp_author":[48],"class_list":["post-1059","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-f1","tag-mclaren","tag-oscar-piastri","tag-zandvoort","42wp_author-giovani-danjo"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1059"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1060,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1059\/revisions\/1060"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1020312423"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1059"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1059"},{"taxonomy":"42wp_author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/grandepremio.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/42wp_author?post=1059"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}