Oscar Piastri battling illness during Baku qualifying

Oscar Piastri has revealed he was battling illness during qualifying for the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Oscar Piastri in the paddock during the Formula 1 Azerbaijan Grand Prix. (XPB Images)

The Friday qualifying session was positive for both sides of the McLaren Racing garage, with both Piastri and teammate Lando Norris making it to Q3. Norris qualified seventh, with Piastri to start the grand prix in 10th.

The Australian revealed after qualifying that he had been battling illness at the start of the F1 weekend in Baku.

"I’ve been feeling a little under the weather today and I struggled to maximise every corner, so to still be in Q3 is a good result," said Piastri.

Piastri set an identical lap time to Aston Martin's Lance Stroll, with Stroll qualifying ahead as he set the time first.

“Tenth in qualifying for Sunday’s grand prix, I'm pretty happy with that," said Piastri.

"It’s great to have both of us in Q3."

"We were really close to P8 and tied with Stroll in P9, which is a bit annoying, but otherwise I’m happy with the session. A big thanks goes to the team for their hard work in getting the new parts ready. We’ll now focus on another qualifying session in the morning and a lot more action to come."

McLaren was otherwise happy with the result, with team principal Andrea Stella noting only that they were "managing a small issue on Lando's car."

The 2023 FIA Formula One World Championship returns on Saturday for the sprint shootout and sprint race, beginning at 6.30pm (AEST).

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