Despite setting the benchmark on the opening day at the Spanish Grand Prix, championship leader Oscar Piastri expects close battle with Max Verstappen, the Ferrari and the Mercedes driver in the remainder of the weekend.
Having left last Sunday’s Monaco race with a double podium result, McLaren continued to dominate proceedings on the opening day of this weekend’s Spanish Grand Prix.
Lando Norris took his maiden victory in the Principality five days ago, and he displayed an impressive performance in the first practice session to go quickest.
The second practice saw his team-mate Oscar Piastri set the benchmark, with the Australian building up a relatively big margin over his rivals in FP2.
“It was an up-and-down day, but think it ended pretty well. The conditions are a bit tricky with these temperatures, so it’s going to make for an interesting day tomorrow,” Piastri added.
“Our competitors look quick as well, so I think it’s going to be a very tight battle in Qualifying. We’ll make some tweaks overnight to put ourselves in the strongest position for tomorrow.”
Assessing the opening day at Barcelona, Piastri said: “It’s been a bit of an up and down day, obviously ending on an up, which is good. But our competitors look quick.
“I think Verstappen has been quick all day, Ferrari have been there, Mercedes popped up at the end, so it’s going to be a tight battle tomorrow. There are definitely still some things to try and work on.”
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