Oscar Piastri: “Happy to hang on to P5”
Qualified 4th on the grid, Oscar Piastri was not able to secure his first podium in Formula 1, despite a brilliant start. The Australian rookie finishes 5th in this Grand Prix, with some regrets but also some positives to take away from this race.
With the upgrades brought to the McLaren at Silverstone, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri are on a roll, racking up maximum points for their team. After his 4th place finish at Silverstone, Oscar Piastri secured a 5th place finish in the Hungarian Grand Prix. Once again, a solid performance from the young rookie, who continues to learn. However, he wants more, specifically his first Formula 1 podium.
After a magnificent start, Oscar Piastri emerged ahead of Norris and Hamilton to take second place at the first corner, just behind Max Verstappen. During the first few laps, the Australian displayed an interesting pace that allowed him to hold onto this second position, but later on, a undercut from his teammate Lando Norris and Hamilton’s better pace ruined all hopes of a podium for Piastri. However, regarding McLaren’s decision to pit Lando Norris first, Oscar Piastri believes that it didn’t change the outcome of the race.
« I think it wasn’t ideal to come out behind Lando, but when you finish 30 seconds behind him, it doesn’t make much difference. I think it was just a lot of tire management, I couldn’t really do much more to defend myself. I mean, I tried as hard as I could against Checo and he was out of sight in about two laps », said Piastri after the Grand Prix. A slightly bitter result, he would have hoped for better, but a 5th place is synonymous with strength for someone who still needs to learn how to fight at the front.
A little bit of disappointment
Oscar Piastri comes out of this race with a touch of disappointment, especially because he was not able to do better than a 5th place. He would have liked to step onto the podium like his teammate. Even though he finds this weekend positive, the rookie thinks he did not do all the necessary work to achieve better results.
“So yes, there are some things to consider regarding tire management, but overall, it’s still a good day for the team and I think Lando has proven himself – not so much myself – but when it’s hot like this, we can always stay at the front,” he declared.
« It’s always a really positive weekend for the team, a good weekend for myself, just a lot of things to go through, digest, and learn », he continued. For Oscar Piastri, it hasn’t been perfect, he lacked pace at certain key moments of the Grand Prix but he had a solid and error-free race.
He concluded on a positive note after the race, being nonetheless satisfied with what he was able to show. « Happy to hold on to P5, I thought at one point, we were going to be even further than that », he said. Indeed, McLaren has come a long way, and Oscar Piastri can savor his last two performances, promising and above all, already impressive.
