Piastri after 3rd place: « For a bad weekend, it’s not so bad »

Oscar Piastri can breathe a sigh of relief. The Australian driver salvaged the situation during the Monaco Grand Prix by securing third place on the podium, a result that maintains his lead in the world championship despite a weekend that was far from perfect. However, his lead over Lando Norris has significantly eroded, now standing at just three small points.

Starting from third position on the grid, the Australian quickly lost contact with the leading duo. The race took an unfavorable turn from the early laps, with Piastri already trailing Norris by five seconds by the sixth lap. A gap that suggested more of a deliberate strategy than a pure performance deficit.

A pit stop that compromises the strategy

The Australian’s weekend was marked by some difficulties. His first pit stop on the 21st lap was compromised by an issue with the left rear wheel, costing him more than a second. This loss of time allowed Max Verstappen to attempt an overcut, a strategy that ultimately did not work.

The frustration was palpable in the radio communications following this botched stop. “So now, what’s the plan? Because that didn’t work very well,” Piastri asked over the radio. But his engineer replied, “The plan is to keep the Safety Car gap to Hamilton and go with Leclerc if you can,” as if to reassure him.

The final laps, however, will give his team hope again. With fresher tires, Piastri caught up with the leading group. He was less than five seconds behind Leclerc on the 62nd lap. His engineer then encouraged him in his efforts: « Let’s stay close to the cars in front, there might be opportunities here. », but it wasn’t enough. Indeed, he ran out of laps to catch the Monegasque driver.

Positive takeaways for Piastri

After this Monaco challenge, the 24-year-old driver showed clarity in his analysis of his race. « Obviously, winning would have been better. It was a somewhat difficult weekend, the tests were complicated from start to finish, and I felt like I was going into qualifying without much confidence in how the weekend was unfolding. I got closer but not enough. Qualifying is pretty much where you end up », he admitted.

Despite the disappointments, the Australian refuses to dramatize the situation and prefers to focus on the positive aspects of his weekend. I’m quite happy overall, obviously there are things to look at for when we come back here next year but we scored points and another podium in Monaco, so it’s not too bad.

Piastri also highlights how fine the margins were and puts the overall performance into perspective: « If it’s a bad weekend, it’s not that bad. There are things to work on and we’ll start again next week. Well done to Lando for an excellent weekend and well done to Charles for being as fast as usual. », he said.

The battle for the world title takes on a new dimension, Piastri retains his lead position ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix next week, but the pressure is mounting with Norris and Verstappen in his rearview mirror.