Title leader Piastri still hopeful after P3 quali

Formula 1 person Oscar Piastri stayed hopeful aft a qualifying league that had McLaren brag Andrea Stella talking of harm regulation successful Sunday's Canadian Grand Prix.

The Australian volition commencement from 3rd connected the grid with teammate Lando Norris, 10 points down successful the standings aft 9 of 24 races, backmost successful seventh.

Mercedes' George Russell took rod position and Red Bull's Max Verstappen, victor for the past 3 years, joined him connected the beforehand enactment successful a repetition of 2024's qualifying apical 2 astatine Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

"Our gait connected contention days is mostly wherever we're strong," Piastri, victor of 5 races this play and bidding to go the archetypal Australian to instrumentality six successful a azygous campaign, told a quality conference.

"These 2 adjacent to maine were precise speedy successful the contention runs yesterday, truthful it's surely not going to beryllium a slam dunk win, but I deliberation we're decidedly successful the fight."

The session, a acquisition for those talking up atrocious humor betwixt Russell and Verstappen aft a header clash successful Spain betwixt the pair, near McLaren disconnected the gait for erstwhile successful a scrappy session.

It was the archetypal clip Mercedes had taken rod this season.

"The representation changes wholly for the race, that's what we person to absorption on," Stella told Sky Sports television.

"I deliberation successful presumption of contention gait we should beryllium a spot much comfy but let's see. This play could beryllium 1 of harm limitation."

Norris volition surely person a conflict connected his hands to get onto the podium.

"[I made] a mates of large mistakes, 1 hitting the partition connected the past thigh connected the exit of Turn 7 and besides the archetypal thigh astatine the last corner. Mistakes that outgo me," helium said.

"We person not been arsenic speedy arsenic usual, and it was possibly not the car to instrumentality rod position, but it should person been capable for the apical three.

"It is simply a precise casual way to propulsion 1% excessively much, and wage the price, and that's what happened today. A podium volition beryllium pugnacious due to the fact that we don't person the gait we person had of the past fewer races."