Piastri will start Sunday’s race from third, ahead of Norris in fifth, as their championship fight continues. The Australian holds a 25-point buffer over his teammate but also faces a resurgent Max Verstappen, who lines up second after two straight wins.
Speaking to Speedcafe in the post-qualifying press conference, Piastri dismissed the idea that his focus would be on managing Norris behind him.
“I think tomorrow’s race is just all about trying to do the best I can,” he said. “There’s a lot of things that can happen around here. It’s a tough race — Safety Cars and stuff like that. So, I’ll do the best that I can.
“Obviously, if there’s an opportunity to finish higher than I’m starting, then I’ll try and take it. I’m not just going to settle for the position I’m in or any position just ahead of Lando. I want to maximise the race I can get because any extra points I can win is only going to help me.”
Piastri was satisfied with his qualifying effort but admitted he hadn’t expected to see Mercedes’ George Russell take pole. Russell’s lap of 1m29.158s put him ahead of Verstappen and left Piastri nearly four-tenths adrift in third.
“More or less,” Piastri said when asked if third was the most he could achieve. “I think there was a little bit left in it but not enough for pole. Ultimately I thought it was a pretty good session.
“It’s just been a pretty good weekend – very solid, no major hiccups or anything like that. I think ultimately we just didn’t quite have the pace, so we’ll try and see what we can do tomorrow.”
He added that the result had come as a mild surprise.
“It was a surprise, yeah. I think the start of qualifying we seemed pretty good, and then everyone else just seemed to find a lot of time and we didn’t really,” he added.
“That was a bit of a surprise, but it’s been a little bit weird this weekend. The tyres have been pretty tricky to switch on.”
While acknowledging McLaren “weren’t quick enough” to challenge for pole, Piastri’s consistency across the weekend leaves him well placed for Sunday’s 62-lap race.
With Singapore’s history of unpredictability and its demanding street layout, he said the focus should remain on execution rather than defensive tactics.
“Third’s still not a bad result,” Piastri added.
“I’ll just try and do the best job I can and see where we end up.”
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