Oscar Piastri celebrates a remarkable turnaround at the Red Bull Ring, clinching 2nd place after starting 7th, showcasing his impressive racing prowess and determination.
Starting seventh on the grid for the Austrian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri made an impressive comeback to secure second place behind George Russell, also benefiting from the collision between Max Verstappen and his teammate Lando Norris. This marks the second podium of the season for the McLaren F1 driver, following his success in Monaco.
“I’m happy. I think the first stint didn’t allow me to progress as much as I would have liked. There was an incident at Turn 1. And yes, I overheated the tyres a bit. With dirty air, it was very difficult to get within a second of another car. So, yes, I didn’t make much progress. But in the next two stints, things improved. The pit stops and corners were a bit longer. Yes, I felt we needed more laps towards the end, unfortunately. But starting from seventh, it’s obviously a good turnaround.”
However, there are some regrets about only qualifying seventh on Saturday after his time was removed.
“Yes, for sure, I mean, I was quite upset on Saturday because there are so many corners, we made changes on the track here to get rid of the track limits issue. But in that corner, for some reason, we moved the white line, but not enough. In the end, I went slightly outside, and that’s the mistake I made. But after seeing the evidence of my lap being deleted because of a helicopter camera that was only on me, in pretty questionable resolution, it stung a lot. So, I had a bit of fire in me before the race. I think some of my overtakes probably came from a bit further back than they otherwise would have.”
The race could have taken a bad turn after contact with Charles Leclerc at the start, but unlike the Ferrari driver, Piastri was able to continue without needing to pit despite some minor damage to his car.
“Yes, I didn’t get the best start, but I saw an opening on the outside and braked late. I couldn’t really see where Checo went on the inside, but I didn’t think he was really far from Charles, but obviously, we all ended up together at Turn 1. So, yes, I was lucky. I think there was some damage, but I don’t think there was anything major. I had a bit more contact with Checo later in the lap. So, yes, it was a busy race.”
The Australian driver also found himself battling with another Ferrari, Carlos Sainz, in the final laps of the race, and he made a beautiful pass around the outside.
“Yes, Turn 6 was an ideal hunting ground this weekend. I think I made three moves on the outside. It was very, very close at the entry to Turn 4, and then I had a bit more grip on the outside of Turn 6 and managed to make it. So, yes, I’m quite happy with that.”
McLaren F1 will be “in the fight” for victory at Silverstone.
Last year at Silverstone, McLaren F1 made a spectacular leap in the hierarchy after a very challenging start to the season. This weekend, they arrive as favorites alongside Red Bull. Piastri hopes to contend for the win this year.
“I think last year was an incredible weekend for us as a team; it was somewhat the beginning of our resurgence. As George said, Max was very impressive in the high-speed corners on Sunday. This bodes well for Red Bull at Silverstone. But I think we have a solid car, and we have been very consistent wherever we’ve gone.”
“You know, we might have wondered if we would be as competitive when we returned to a more traditional circuit like Barcelona or here, where there are more high-speed corners than in Canada and Monaco. But we have had a very consistent car everywhere we’ve been. So I think we can be confident of being in the fight.”
Piastri Shines with 2nd Place Finish. Piastri Shines with 2nd Place Finish
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