Piastri: I'm not sure I want to go under the name Ice Boy

The Australian, leading the Formula 1 championship for dominant McLaren, was offered the nickname after taking pole position with a mighty lap in the heat of qualifying for the 2025 Spanish Grand Prix.

A reporter suggested Piastri could be the progeny of Finnish "Iceman" Kimi Raikkonnen, the 2007 world champion for Ferrari, such was his nonchalant attitude.

"I'm not sure I want to go under the name Ice Boy," replied the Australian, raising a laugh from others in the room. "I think the emotions are different each time. Certainly, there's been qualifyings and races where it's not been nonchalant and there's been a lot of emotion behind them.

"But then there's others where you go out and you know that if you do a good enough job, you can achieve the result you want. Don't get me wrong, it's incredibly satisfying, but I think I'm just not a particularly emotional person. That's just how I am, really."

Piastri added that he could have his emotional moments but he also knew that Saturday was only part of the job done and the real celebrating could wait until after Sunday's race.

The 24-year-old, born in Melbourne and schooled in England, has won four of the eight races this season and Saturday was his fourth pole of the campaign.

He is three points clear of teammate Lando Norris, who won from pole in Monaco last Sunday to close the gap, but Piastri shows no sign of feeling the pressure: "It's a nice thing to have, starting on pole, but it's not the end of the weekend. The points are tomorrow. After the races, it depends a bit on the race.

"If you've had a battle with someone the whole race and then you win, then yeah, you're pretty pumped up. But if you've got a bit of a gap, then you kind of know with a few laps to go that it's going to go your way, and then it doesn't spill over so much," said Piastri.

In the sister McLaren, Norris has never won consecutive races in Formula 1, and his hopes of building on his Monte Carlo triumph were dealt a setback in Barcelona with Piastri taking an emphatic pole. Piastri’s advantage of 0.209 seconds is the biggest of the season so far.

Norris held a slender advantage of 0.017 sec after the first runs in Q3 and although he improved with his final attempt, Norris conceded his lap was scrappy, and it was Piastri in the other papaya car who soared to the top of the order.

“Oscar drove very well but the pace was easily there today,” acknowledged Norris. “Sometimes you don’t put the lap in. I know where I lost that time. I made a mistake at Turn 1 and on the exit of Turn 4. I was trying a little bit too much and I wasn’t tidy enough. Just one too many mistakes. I am still fine and happy with second. It is not the end of the world.”

Of course, Norris is right and he could yet land a win here on Sunday which would move him back to the summit of the title standings. However, it is Piastri, who is proving the more consistent performer this season, with four victories to Norris’ two, and it is he who will hold the aces on the long run down to the first corner.

Quickest in both the second and third practice sessions prior to qualifying, the Australian said: “I always felt confident pole was on the cards so I am glad we pulled it off.”