Oscar Piastri will start from pole position at 3 PM tomorrow when the 15th race of the season gets underway at Zandvoort. The Australian clinched pole position by a whisker: 12 thousandths of a second ahead of Lando Norris who, until the first attempt in Q3, was practically unbeatable not only for the others but also for Piastri himself.
Getting inside opponent's head
What is truly astonishing (only for those who are yet to realise Oscar's qualities) is not so much the track record - 1:08.662 - set by #81, but rather his ability to make the decisive move when it really counts.
99% of the paddock identified Norris as today's polesitter; it couldn't be otherwise, given that from the very first lap on Friday, Lando had confirmed his great feeling with the Dutch track, perhaps even more than Red Bull Ring. After all, we still have the 2024 edition fresh in our minds, when the Brit was the absolute dominator: fastest lap by 5 tenths of a second ahead of his teammate and victory by over 20 seconds ahead of home hero Max Verstappen.
Let's be clear though: it would be absurd to “blame” a driver for missing pole position by a hair's breadth (literally) of thousandths of a second. Knowing the Bristol native's emotional nature, however, this could turn into a minor psychological setback. Yes, because the bar is set high. The closer we get to the end, the more the tension is bound to increase, by inertia. Piastri understood this and perhaps started to play a little today, delivering the decisive blow when his rival thought he was safe.
This is something that number 4 should perhaps also consider. There is no need to do anything dramatic, but mind games are still part of Formula 1: history tells that. Just ask Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton, two drivers who had no qualms about “falsifying” their telemetry in order to turn what were actually strengths into apparent weaknesses.
Sending signals from the other side of the box – like it or not – is necessary. Oscar has understood this and Lando had better start doing the same as soon as possible. Because, at the end of the day, sometimes distorting yourself is not a sign of weakness but - on the other hand - of great, tremendous strength.
Main cover photo pbs.twimg.com
Inside photo pbs.twimg.com
Inside photo pbs.twimg.com
Read also: Piastri «peaks at the right time» and beats Norris to Dutch GP pole in «tricky weekend»
Read also: How Piastri turned the script upside down by getting pole position at Zandvoort
All the news, photos, weather, session times and times from the Dutch GP 2025
