Interview
Piastri expecting plenty of ‘variables’ at ‘unique’ Jeddah circuit but remains confident he can extend Championship lead
Bidding to become just the second driver to take four successive poles in Formula 2, Oscar Piastri is expecting a few more ‘uncontrollables’ in Saudi Arabia than the past three rounds, comparing elements of the Jeddah Corniche Circuit to Silverstone, but with ‘concrete walls on either side.’
On a run of three poles in a row, Piastri would better George Russell and Alex Albon’s records if he notched a fourth in Jeddah. Charles Leclerc took six in a row in 2017.
It would also put him on course to extend his championship lead over Guanyu Zhou, which currently stands at 36 points, but the PREMA racer is anticipating a tougher time of things in Round 7 due to the unique layout of the brand-new street circuit.
“I think that it is a very unique layout,” said Piastri. “It’s not really like anything we've seen before. It’s a street circuit, but it’s extremely quick. Some of the sequences are quite reminiscent of Silverstone, but there are concrete walls on either side. It’s very new and something different and that’s exciting! We will see how it goes.
“Whatever I did in the last three weekends was good, so I’ll try and do the same again. There will be a few different elements here, though. It will be much more like going to Monaco or Baku because none of us have been here before and it’s a street circuit.
“There will be a few variables. Yellow flags will be a big one because it’s a street circuit and the margin for error on a circuit like this is basically zero. There are a few more uncontrollables, but in terms of what I can control, I’m confident that we can be quick.”
Piastri has starred in his rookie campaign, becoming the most consistent driver on the grid with three wins and a further four top-three finishes.
One of just two drivers to have averaged a podium per round – the other being Dan Ticktum – Piastri knows how quickly things can turn around in this championship and says he can’t afford to let those standards slip.
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“With two weekends to go, I still need to keep pushing,” said Piastri. “If we can head into Abu Dhabi with this kind of lead, or even bigger, then that would be the perfect scenario. We can't afford to let our guard down yet and we can't take too many risks, even though the lead is quite healthy.
“We still need to be pushing to try and beat all of the others because the lead could be chased down very quickly. I don't think our approach changes too much, we’ll just try and qualify on pole and win, which is the goal every time.
“Honestly, I’m not massively fussed over podiums or wins now. The only focus is the championship. It would be nice to keep the streak alive, and I guess that is the best way of extending the championship lead, but I think outscoring my rivals will be the biggest key.”