After second place in the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri is upset about missing out on victory: track limits in qualifying prove fatal
From seventh to second place is not normally a bad result for a Formula 1 race, but McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was disappointed after the Austrian Grand Prix not to have finished on the top step of the podium. The Australian narrowly lost out to George Russell, but the 23-year-old is looking for the reasons for this in qualifying
“There are a lot of ‘what ifs’ and ‘maybes’,” says Piastri, who, like Russell, benefited from the coming together of the leading duo of Max Verstappen and Lando Norris. “Yes, of course you start with yesterday,” where Piastri’s fastest lap in qualifying – which would have given him third place on the grid – was canceled due to track limits.
“I know it’s only my fourth podium in Formula 1, but yes, it hurts a bit so close to winning, but of course it’s really good points. I think we were pretty strong in the second half of the race and I’m happy for another podium. When it’s this close, it obviously hurts a bit. “
Piastri: We didn’t move forward fast enough in the first stint
McLaren opted for an overcut strategy with Piastri at the last pit stop. After overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the track, the Australian stayed on the old hard tires to gain a tire advantage over Carlos Sainz in the Ferrari and Mercedes driver George Russell in front. The gamble with Sainz paid off, but Russell was just 1.9 seconds off the pace at the finish.
“On the whole, I’m also satisfied,” he says. “I don’t think I made quite as much progress in the first stint as I would have liked. Obviously there was a small incident in turn one [with Charles Leclerc]. And then the tires overheated a little bit. And with the dirty air, it was so hard to stay within a second.”
“So, yes, I didn’t get far forward. But in the next two stints, things really got going. I was able to go a bit longer both at the pit stops and I have a feeling we would have needed a few more laps towards the end, unfortunately. But after seventh on the grid, that’s obviously a good turnaround and I’m pretty happy with that. “
Track limits with fatal consequences: “Pretty annoyed about it “
In any case, Piastri doesn’t have much to blame himself for in the race, but he was still struggling with Q3 on Saturday when he overshot the track limits in turn six. McLaren subsequently lodged a protest, as it was not clear from the camera images whether the 23-year-old was actually off the white line with all four wheels. However, the protest was not even allowed due to formal errors.
“I was pretty annoyed about it yesterday,” said the McLaren man. “We made changes to the track here to solve the problem of the track boundary. But in this one corner we moved the white line for some reason, but not enough. But in the end I went a bit too far to the outside and that’s my mistake, or at least it was. “
“But after I saw the evidence for which my lap was deleted because it was from a helicopter camera that was only pointed at me, and in a pretty dodgy resolution, it hurt quite a bit. So I went into the race with a bit of fire in me. So I think some of my overtaking maneuvers came from further back than I might otherwise have done. “
Piastri: “Almost took off to catch George “
His maneuver against Carlos Sainz was particularly worth seeing, as he made a move on him in the second sector and caught him on the outside of the sixth corner. It was actually about the battle for fourth place, with the possibility of a podium if Russell was caught beforehand.
“I just wanted to get back on the podium,” said Piastri. “I felt like that would have been a good result, the way we started. And then, yes, when you’re fighting for the win, of course things change a bit. You try to focus on what’s in front of you and you just try to go as fast as you can.”
“Especially when you only have five or six laps to go. So I gave it my best shot. I think I almost went off a couple of times trying to catch George, but I can’t say I didn’t try. “
Start collision without consequences for Piastri: “Was lucky “
However, the race could have ended very differently after an incident with Charles Leclerc on the first corner of the Grand Prix. The Monegasque touched the McLaren’s right rear tire with his front wing, damaging the Ferrari but leaving Piastri without a puncture.
“I didn’t have the best start,” said Piastri, explaining his view of things. “But I saw a small gap on the outside and then braked quite late. I couldn’t really see where Checo [Perez] was going on the inside, but I didn’t think he was really that far next to Charles, but obviously all three of us kind of met at the apex.”
“So, yeah, I was lucky. I think there was a little bit of damage, but I don’t think anything major. I had a bit more contact with Checo again a bit later in the round. Yes, it was an eventful race. “
