Piastri relieved after qualifying: 'It's hugely close this weekend'

Oscar Piastri starts the race in Abu Dhabi in third place. The Australian appeared to be heading for a spot outside the top three, but in the end, a mistake by his teammate Lando Norris allowed him to move up to P3 and start the race on the second row of the grid.

"It was a difficult session," the rookie began after qualifying. "It's extremely tight this weekend, a bit of a messy. The pace has been there, just a lot of mistakes. On the last lap, I made a bit of a mistake, but it would have been quite a last corner to get to the front. The car is very quick this weekend, so that is a nice turnaround from Vegas for us, and we're very happy to be in the top three."

Whether qualifying is a harbinger for the race, Piastri does not yet know: "Not a clue. I don't know! For everyone, it's going to be the same story. I think the most anyone has done is five laps in a row this weekend, so it will be interesting to see how it pans out tomorrow."