Oscar Piastri has suggested the conditions in Canada this weekend play to the strengths of the McLaren MCL60.
The Australian ended Friday’s running 11th fastest with an unusual combination of sessions – the first effectively abandoned with no running with the second extended to compensate.
With tyres carried across to Free Practice 2, Piastri was able to bank more than half the race distance in the 90-minute session despite two red flags and rain lashing the circuit in the final minutes.
It’s a performance that comes despite team boss Andrea Stella suggesting this weekend will be a difficult one for the Woking operation.
“Here, we have no high-speed corners, quite a lot of low-speed traction, so it could be a bit of a struggle,” Stella said.
“We would certainly welcome some weather.”
The MCL60 has proved to be comparatively weak around medium-speed corners, which dominate the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
However, it has also excelled in cooler conditions, as was seen in Monaco last month.
That has again been the case in Canada, with Piastri comfortable following his first experience of the Montreal circuit despite the limited track time.
“We went into Free Practice 2 with the extra tyres from Free Practice 1 and the extra half an hour,” he said.
“We made the most of it.
“Obviously a lot of tyres, a lot of laps which was nice, some quali-style runs, some longer runs as well – a bit of everything.”
During Free Practice 2, Piastri brushed the barrier at the famed ‘Wall of Champions’ exiting the final corner, but escaped without damage.
He was then back out on track on intermediate rubber in the closing moments as the rain fell – having been on a set of slicks when it first arrived.
Rain is expected to remain through Saturday before easing for Sunday, with a cloudy top of just 19 degrees forecast for race day.
“It’s obviously raining a lot now, and this is what it’s going to be like tomorrow,” Piastri said shortly after Free Practice 2.
“Our car generally likes it when it’s cold and mixed conditions, so we’ll see.
“We’ll obviously drive to whatever weather throws at us – which is quite a lot at the moment.”
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