Oscar Piastri described his P2 finish in Austria as “happy“, yet “a little bit bittersweet“. The Australian showed regret over his second-placed run as he was “so close to the win” behind ‘pole-sitter’ George Russell.
After Piastri qualified P7 yesterday, he got lucky, however, when Verstappen and Norris made contact, taking them out of the running. This led to his P2 finish today at the Red Bull Ring.
However, the McLaren #2 came out to spill some ‘contrasting’ words after the 2024 Austrian Grand Prix.
How the Race Went
As the lights went out, Oscar started his run from P7 of the starting grid. Max Verstappen made a strong start to hold the lead, while Russell chased Norris for P2, but the McLaren man defended keeping the position. Hamilton, meanwhile, gained a place from Sainz to slot into P4 before going after his teammate.
Further back there was trouble for Leclerc, who suffered damage to his front wing following contact with Piastri into Turn 1. This forced the Monegasque to pit, dropping him nearly to the back of the field, while Piastri continued on and enjoyed a scrap with Perez.
However, things took a dramatic turn when there was a contact between Verstappen and Norris on Lap 64. This resulted in both having to limp back to the pits with punctures. Taking advantage, Russell swept through to take the lead, while Piastri (1:24:24.704) overtook Sainz for a second.
In the post-race interview, Piastri admitted that he felt mixed emotions for his P2 finish: “happy and little bit bittersweet“. Beginning his race summary, he started by saying,
“Happy, mostly. But, little bit bittersweet when you’re so close to the win.”
“I was chasing him [Russell] down in the last laps. Just needed some more laps, really.”
“Starting from seventh instead of third hurts at the moment. It’s bittersweet, but, we’ll definitely take the points and the trophy.”
Despite feeling “bittersweet“, he was thankful, as it was his fourth podium finish in his ‘one year plus’ F1 career. Explaining this, he added:
“This is only my fourth podium in F1, and they don’t come around every day. So, I’ll definitely take it. I’m sure in a few hours it’ll sink in a bit.”
Quizzed on his car’s performance lately, Piastri admitted that the McLaren MCL38 has been “performing really well“. Noting the MCL38’s run during the race, he further added:
“Yeah, the car’s been performing really well.”
“I think the first thing was a bit tricky for us. Just stuck in the dirty air, couldn’t really do much.”
“Went a bit different on the strategy, went a bit longer, and then built up some nice tire difference, which was good. We were really coming in the last stint, so I was happy with that.”
Piastri subtly warns Red Bull by saying McLaren’s ‘time is coming’
As the season unfolds, it is becoming pretty clear that McLaren has been Red Bull’s closest rival this season. This is greatly credited to the MCL38, that has put on a good fight to the Austrians’ RB20. Reflecting on this, he asserted the car has been “really quick nearly the whole season now“. Concluding the interview, he summarised the season so far,
“We’ve had a really quick car the last, well, nearly the whole season now.”
Concluding the interview, he put forth the ‘one-liner’:
“Our time’s coming.”
As of right now, his words are really taking shape, as Norris has landed in the P2 spot of the 2024 Drivers’ Standings for the first time in the Brit’s career. Specifically, the McLaren #4 is Verstappen’s closest rival in the table with 156 points. Meanwhile, the Australian is sitting at P6, almost ‘neck-to-neck’ behind Sergio Pérez.
For their next challenge, Oscar Piastri will be in McLaren’s and Norris’ home for the 2024 British GP. The racing event will be held between July 5th to 7th at the iconic Silverstone Circuit.
Photo Credit: McLaren F1
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