'A struggle': Piastri laments lack of race pace in Barcelona
Monday, 5 June 2023
Warmer track conditions and several faster rivals out of position on the grid added up to push Oscar Piastri out of the points after a "tough" outing in Spain.
Oscar Piastri described his Spanish Grand Prix as "a struggle" after a desperately disappointing Sunday for McLaren at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, the Australian finishing out of the points in a lapped 13th place after starting the race inside the top 10.
McLaren shone in the Spanish gloom on Saturday, Piastri and teammate Lando Norris relishing the cooler track temperatures after rain hit the circuit during the FIA Formula 2® sprint race earlier in the afternoon, accentuating the rapid tyre warm-up trait of the MCL60.
Norris qualified a stunning third, while Piastri was 10th but gained a place on the grid after Pierre Gasly (Alpine) was penalised for two separate impeding infringements in qualifying after setting the fourth-fastest time.
That was as good as things got for both drivers, with first-corner contact with Mercedes' Lewis Hamilton seeing Norris into the pits for running repairs, while Piastri dropped a place on lap one and was on his back foot thereafter.
"Very tough," was Piastri's succinct initial download of his race, which came after a weekend where both McLarens scored points in Monaco.
"We knew staying in the points was going to be tricky, especially for myself starting ninth with Gasly behind, (Mercedes' George) Russell, Checo (Red Bull's Sergio Perez) … we knew it was going to be a difficult afternoon, but that was more difficult than even what we thought. So, a struggle."
Piastri conceded Saturday's unusually cool weather in Barcelona enhanced McLaren's penchant for quick tyre warm-up relative to its midfield rivals, which quickly became more of a negative than a positive on race day.
"Yesterday in those cooler tricky conditions where it wasn't fully dry in a few places, we seemed to excel," Piastri said.
"Monaco was a similar story, on a cold track. You need to be very cautious, and we seem to switch on the tyres very well. A bit of the opposite problem (today) where we switched them on too well to the point that they were on fire at some points! So, a struggle, and we need to find out why."
With Alpine's Esteban Ocon (eighth) and Gasly (10th) both scoring points for McLaren's main midfield rival, the team sits in sixth place in the constructors' standings with 17 points after seven races this season, while Piastri (five points) retains 13th in the drivers' championship ahead of his inaugural visit to the Canadian Grand Prix in Montreal in a fortnight's time.
Oscar's Spanish Grand Prix by the numbers
- Qualified: 10th (started 9th after Gasly penalties)
- Race: 13th
- Pit stops/tyres: Lap 17 (soft/hard), Lap 39 (hard/medium)
- Fastest lap: 1min 18.679secs (13th), lap 41
- Points this event: 0
- Points this season: 5 (13th in world championship)
