Oscar Piastri is hopeful of a healthy points haul from the British GP after sensationally qualifying his McLaren on the second row of the grid in Silverstone.
The Australian will start immediately behind pole-sitter Max Verstappen when the lights go out on Sunday, and one spot back from team-mate Lando Norris.
Piastri described it as a “massive confidence boost” when Speedcafe asked what the result meant to him.
McLaren has taken a step forward this weekend, building on a positive performance by Norris at the Austrian Grand Prix.
There, the Englishman had the first step in the team’s three-part upgrades fitted to his car – parts which have this weekend found their way onto Piastri’s McLaren.
Both capitalised on that in a tricky qualifying session, Piastri describing his appearance in the top three for the first time in F1 as “a very special moment.”
But while pleased with his own and the team’s performance on Saturday, the 22-year-old suggests there’s perhaps a similarly positive result to be had in the race.
McLaren has shown itself to have good single-lap pace, though high tyre degradation has tended to see it fall backwards during the race.
Norris bucked that trend in Austria, offering hope that a stronger result may be in the offing at the end of tomorrow’s race.
“Firstly, stay in the points, that would be good, but I think we’ll have to see what our race pace is like,” Piastri said of his Sunday prospects.
“Lando showed last week that we can hang on in the races now to a much better extent, so hopefully we can try and do the same tomorrow.
“Of course, staying in the top three will be tricky with quite a few quick cars behind us, but definitely a solid points score can be on the cards.”
The British Grand Prix begins at 15:00 local time on Sunday (midnight AEST).
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