“5th on the grid, 6th in turn 1”: Oscar Piastri savagely responds to starting ahead of Max Verstappen at Spa

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri joked that Red Bull driver Max Verstappen would pass him in Turn 1 in the 2023 F1 Belgian GP main race on Sunday.

The Aussie driver impressed everyone with his consistent performance in the Friday qualifying as he finished P6 for the main race after the session ended. He looked in the fight for the pole position as he was constantly the fastest driver in the middle part of the track given he is carrying more downforce than most of the other cars.

However speaking about starting ahead of Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri joked:

"Yeah, it's in a decent spot for Sunday obviously Max has got a penalty so we're fifth on the grid, 6th in turn 1."

As per F1.com, Piastri further added:

"I’m reasonably happy with P6 in qualifying, though I think there was maybe a bit more left in Q3. We were really quick until that point. I think in the last session it really dried up a lot, and that was my first dry lap of Spa in an F1 car."

"I was kind-of hoping it would stay a bit wetter but overall, still not too bad. I think everybody probably feels like they had a bit more left but it’s a decent grid spot for Sunday and we’ll see what we can do from there."

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Max Verstappen speaks on the difficulty of the conditions in Friday's qualifying

The Red Bull driver stated that it is very easy to make a mistake or go into the wall in the damp conditions that the driver experienced in the Friday qualifying session.

In the post-qualifying session, Max Verstappen said:

"Well, it's more about not actually finding the limit. Because then it's very easy to make a mistake and hit the wall. So it's all about just trying to leave your margins and just build up to it, basically. But yeah, it seemed like it was a bit tougher today. I think also because the sun was out at one point, the track was drying really quickly, lap after lap."

"It's quite hectic out there, you know, it's still only one dry line in some places, you're still not even doing the full dry line. So, yeah, it felt alright. But honestly, I mean, I didn't know where I was until I looked at the screens. But yeah, Q3, that final lap, I think was very good."

It will be fascinating to see how quickly Max Verstappen can make his way through the field in the main race on Sunday.