Piastri warns of ‘unpredictable’ McLaren ahead of Monaco as Norris concedes Imola showed ‘we’re vulnerable in certain areas’

Oscar Piastri has warned that McLaren’s MCL39 remains a «little bit unpredictable when you get to the limit» with Qualifying for the Monaco Grand Prix likely to be a crucial session in determining Sunday’s race winner.

The Australian leads the Drivers’ Championship by 13 points from team mate Lando Norris having taken four wins from seven Grands Prix this term, but Piastri had to settle for third last time out at Imola behind Max Verstappen and Norris.

This was despite Piastri taking his third pole position of the season, the same number as Verstappen, with the grid order for the race in Monte Carlo one of the most crucial of the season given the difficulty in overtaking on the streets of the Principality.

Ahead of the 78-lap race on Sunday, Piastri admitted that McLaren’s 2025 challenger, while rapid, can be unpredictable when on the limit in Qualifying, an issue Norris found after crashing in Saudi Arabia and setting a scruffy lap in Bahrain, which left him sixth.

‘Red Bull have found pace’ – Piastri reflects on Imola disappointment

«I think we’ve slowly learnt how to tame it better and better,» said Piastri. «I think at Imola the car was feeling really good on Saturday.

«It is a bit difficult, a little bit unpredictable when you get to the limit I would say. It clearly has a lot of pace there but it’s not always the easiest to extract just from not being able to fully predict what’s going to happen.

«Every now and again it is better than what is has been at other races but when you get right to the limit, sometimes it can do slightly unexpected things but overall it’s still a very strong car.»

‘It will spice things up’ – F1 drivers intrigued by ‘opportunities and unknowns’ of new two-stop rule for Monaco Grand Prix

One element which might help drivers who suffer a sub-optimal Qualifying is the introduction of a mandatory two-stop race this year, instigated to help improve the show and create a greater strategic element which Piastri believes will produce «a very different race» compared with previous editions.

Neither McLaren driver has won in Monaco before, with Lewis Hamilton the last to do it for the squad, as Piastri finished second and Norris fourth 12 months ago.

Norris: Imola showed McLaren ‘vulnerable in certain areas’

Norris, who has taken only one win this year at the season-opening Australia race, believes winning at Monaco «is a dream for everyone», and is confident that McLaren will have a strong car this weekend, as it has at all races so far this year.

However, the Briton warned that Red Bull and Verstappen are continuing to become a greater threat as the reigning World Champion sits only 22 points behind Piastri in the standings after his victory at Imola.

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«It still shows that we are vulnerable in certain areas. We still have things to improve on, even though we’ve had some great weekends where we’ve looked dominant and we have been dominant,» said Norris.

«Clearly we still have some weaknesses so it’s focusing on the good stuff but try and work on those weaknesses and improve. That’s F1, that’s life every day in F1.»