“Honestly, we could be first and we could be eighth,” Oscar Piastri ambiguously said ahead of the Monaco GP qualifying. But getting ‘adopted’ by home hero Charles Leclerc propelled him to put in a ravishing Q3 lap to secure P2. 2-time champion Mika Hakkinen has even predicted a McLaren victory today. Amid all the Piastri-Leclerc ‘family’ drama, former Ferrari manager Peter Windsor has interestingly pointed out how Piastri massively benefited in qualifying by smartly submerging himself in Leclerc’s racecraft.

Coming into Monaco, Red Bull had already conceded defeat. Max Verstappen declared Ferrari the new top dog for the race in the principality. McLaren, however, disagreed. Judging by Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris‘ qualifying pace, the MCL38 is right in the mix for snatching the win from Charles Leclerc. Ironically, according to Peter Windsor, it was the Monegasque himself whose know-how of the Monaco circuit Piastri imitated to secure the front row for Sunday.

“Oscar Piastri was superb in the McLaren,” Windsor said in his post-qualifying YouTube video. “Watching him yesterday was as if he were just learning from Charles Leclerc and watching the way Charles was driving. No surprise at all to see him that quick.”

While the fanfare around Leclerc’s historic home victory increases, Piastri could very easily silence the home crowd. Despite this possibility existing in just his second F1 year, the 23-year-old Aussie keeps his feet on the ground.

Oscar Piastri remains grounded despite McLaren’s blistering Monaco GP pace

With Max Verstappen only managing a mediocre P6 in Monaco qualifying, McLaren and Ferrari are joint victory contenders for the first time in 2024. Though the Scarlet Red SF24 is quicker around the bumpy Circuit de Monaco, the one-off Senna MCL38 looks menacing. Oscar Piastri, however, has chosen to keep all the talk of his potential maiden F1 victory aside.

“I don’t think it changes the world,” Piastri told RN365 when asked about what the Monaco GP results would mean to McLaren. “I always try to not think about the end results so much. I think for me, leaving a weekend satisfied with what I’ve done in my control is a more important thing. I think the last two weekends, especially Imola, have been very much the case.”

Will the spirit of Ayrton Senna shine through Piastri to upset Leclerc and his home fans? What are your predictions? Let us know in the comments below.