Piastri thinks he can start giving Red Bull a hard time at any circuit

Charles Leclerc said it at the start of the season: 2024 will be a race to catch up. Bringing strong updates is important, as seen by the big step McLaren took in Miami. Halfway through last year, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri's team did the same. Like in Miami and Imola, the updates seem to be working in Monaco too.

Piastri expects to be fast at every track

Piastri will start the Monaco Grand Prix from second place. After qualifying, he was asked if he expects the McLaren to be fast everywhere. To that he replied: ''Yes, I think so. I think we came into this weekend pretty confident that we could be in the fight for pole and the win again. I think going into qualifying, maybe we weren't as convinced this week, but no, it felt good."

The Australian does admit that Imola and Monaco are actually quite similar. ''We say Imola and Monaco are very different circuits, but both of them need a lot of commitment. You know, Imola, you get it a bit wrong, you're in the gravel trap and the wall. Here, there's no gravel trap, it's just the wall. So they're both two pretty big commitment tracks, obviously here being a step above everywhere. But yeah, maybe a bit more similar than people think.'

Piastri also shared how and where he assesses his chances of leading in the Grand Prix. ''The run to Turn 1 is always your best chance at any track. Here, obviously, it's a very short run, like we know. The strategy, you can try something because unless there's a massive pace difference, which I'm pretty sure there won't be, then overtaking is impossible here. It'll be won or lost in the pits, probably. So make sure we have a good day."

This article was written in collaboration with Sophia Crothall.