Oscar Piastri is lucky at the start in Qatar and finishes on the podium once again – The obligatory three-stop strategy also helped McLaren in this respect
After his sprint victory on Saturday, things went like clockwork for Oscar Piastri in the Qatar Grand Prix race as well. Only world champion Max Verstappen had to admit defeat to the McLaren driver. The key to his success was not only his strong pace but also his start, in which he gained four places.
After starting from sixth on the grid, Piastri was already in second place after just one corner. Asked how he managed that, the Formula One rookie quips, “Hit the brakes at the right time and watch everyone else fly off!”
“Honestly, it was as simple as that. I don’t really know what happened. I saw some cars spinning. In that respect, I guess the heavens just meant well for me and I drove into second place.”
Piastri benefited from an early collision between the Mercedes drivers as they tangled with Verstappen. While several others had to take evasive action, the McLaren driver escaped unscathed and subsequently held on to second place. At times, it even looked as if he could challenge Verstappen.
The fact that the stint length was dictated by Pirelli due to the tyre issue “helped rather than hindered” this, Piastri admits. “That led to a race where we were able to go full throttle the whole time, or at least very close, which I’ve never been able to say in a race before.”
“So I think that probably helped us a little bit. Because normally the Red Bull is one step ahead of us in terms of tyre degradation. Maybe we didn’t see that as much this time because of the rules. “
“But I also think our pace was very strong this weekend. That has been another factor for sure,” the rookie points out. Compared to Japan, where he says he lacked some pace in the race, he sees progress.
At the same time, Piastri qualifies: “We can still make some improvements. As I said, this race was very different from the one in Japan. With three stops, we basically pushed the whole race. So it’s a very different kind of race. So I think there is still work to do.”
He hasn’t been able to learn much about tyre degradation in a normal race, the Australian continues. But he still takes the experience from Qatar with him.
“It was just a different kind of tyre degradation. I think the left front and trying to protect that was by far the most important thing,” Piastri explains. “Yes, it was a different learning experience. But it’s still good to have done it. “