Piastri Reflects on Lost Podium Opportunity

Oscar Piastri discusses a missed podium finish at the Miami Grand Prix and his clash with Carlos Sainz.

Oscar Piastri believes he could have joined his teammate Lando Norris on the podium at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Australian has mixed feelings as his teammate won his first race, but he finished out of the points after a clash gone wrong with Carlos Sainz.

McLaren introduced upgrades at the Miami Grand Prix. This included parts for Piastri, but he only had half of the upgrades. The rest will come at Imola. Still, Piastri considers it a good day for the team and believes he should have also been on the podium.

“I think McLaren deserved to have both cars up there. I feel like the first half of the race went very well for us, then I kind of got caught out by the safety car. So mixed emotions for me, but obviously for the whole team, an incredible day, we won the race with the right pace. A bit of luck, but we had a very, very encouraging pace for the future.”

Piastri briefly led the race while the pit stop window was open.

“I struggled a bit on the hard tires, just in traffic. And I didn’t quite have the same pace as on the mediums. But I think it was still an encouraging day. If we had stopped when Lando did, I know, a podium was definitely within our reach today.”

“Unfortunately, that contact with Carlos Sainz ruined everything.”