First lap fires Piastri recovery after unlucky Q1 exit
Monday, 18 September 2023
Oscar Piastri struck early and then stayed patient as he recovered from 17th on the grid to finish seventh in his first Singapore Grand Prix, where McLaren's latest upgrades in the hands of Lando Norris paid immediate dividends.
Oscar Piastri was – in his own words – "hot, pretty tired and looking for an ice bath" after a superb recovery from a Q1 exit to the points at the Singapore Grand Prix, the Australian using an opportunistic first lap and a patient approach to finish seventh at Marina Bay on Sunday.
On his first visit to a track where passing opportunities are few and where Singapore's stifling humidity provides the toughest test the drivers face all year, Piastri's hopes for a strong points result looked to have melted away on Saturday, the McLaren driver unlucky to find himself right behind Lance Stroll on track in Q1 when the Aston Martin driver had an almighty shunt that saw the session red-flagged, leaving Piastri mired in 17th on the grid.
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Recovering to score six points – his sixth points-scoring finish of his rookie season – was, as Piastri put it, about as good as things have could have possibly finished given where he started.
"Maybe P6, in front of (Alpine's Pierre) Gasly, is probably the most we could have done – but all in all, very happy," he said.
"The first five corners were pretty spicy, (Red Bull's Sergio) Perez and (AlphaTauri's Yuki) Tsunoda crashed into each other, it was all happening.
"My first lap was a big part of setting it up. After the first lap I was up three spots already. I think we were a bit quicker than cars around us but we stayed patient and waited for stuff to unfold in front of us with a few people, and made the most of it.
"A tough race, an exciting race, and happy to have made up so many spots – I don't think we could have done too much more."
Piastri – as he searched for that ice bath – said racing in Singapore and the demands on the car and tyres were an eye-opener.
"With these tyres around here, you push for one lap trying to overtake someone, and they take about 10 laps to cool down," he explained.
"It's really difficult, and why overtaking is so tricky. You're really just trying to not slide the tyres, just baby them as much as you can. There's certainly a fine art to it, as I'm learning. It's quite easy for it to get away from you."
Piastri's result was all the more meritorious given teammate Lando Norris, who finished second from fourth on the grid, had sole use of McLaren's significant upgrade package brought to Singapore that Piastri will get at next weekend's Japanese Grand Prix.
McLaren's third and final major bodywork upgrade of the season for the MCL60 featured a new sidepod, engine cover and floor among other items in a bid to improve the car's performance in slow-speed corners, and Norris finished just eight-tenths of a second behind race-winner Carlos Sainz, matching his second-place finishes in Great Britain and Hungary earlier this season.
Oscar's Singapore Grand Prix by the numbers
- Qualified: 17th
- Race: 7th
- Fastest lap: 1min 38.492secs (13th), lap 46
- Points this event: 6
- Points this season: 42 (11th in world championship)
