Piastri looks forward after race to forget in Spielberg
Monday, 3 July 2023
Oscar Piastri took solace from the speed of McLaren's updated machine in the hands of Lando Norris after a "difficult" Sunday in Austria left him in 16th place.
Oscar Piastri was keen to turn the page on an Austrian Grand Prix weekend that saw him finish just 16th on Sunday, choosing instead to focus on the pace shown by McLaren teammate Lando Norris in a heavily-revised MCL60 machine that Piastri will use for the first time at next weekend's British Grand Prix.
Piastri started from 13th place in Sunday's 71-lap race, but dropped three places on the opening lap and never recovered before his race was effectively over on lap 22, when he ran into the back of Kevin Magnussen's Haas under braking at Turn 3, a damaged front wing necessitating an unscheduled pit stop.
The Australian spent the majority of the rest of the race circulating in last place, getting ahead of Magnussen and a penalised Yuki Tsunoda (AlphaTauri) in the final laps on an afternoon to forget.
McLaren brought its long-awaited updates to the MCL60 to Austria, but only Norris ran with the new components, which included revised sidepod inlets, halo, floor, engine cover, and cooling louvres. The British driver finished a season-best fourth with the new package, which has Piastri keen to look ahead rather than focus on his "difficult" Sunday in Spielberg.
"I picked up some wing damage in the middle (of the race) with Magnussen and a couple of others having their own incident in front … I didn't really have anywhere to go at the apex, so a shame there," he explained.
"But even without that, I think our pace wasn't very good. The positives are a very good finish for Lando and the team, so I'm looking forward to getting those parts next week … and forgetting about this weekend, to be honest.
"Obviously Lando drove a very good race – I was watching it on the TV! – so credit to him as well. I think the car's been very good for most of the weekend, and I think it maintained its pace for Lando in the race as well, which is welcome. So, looking forward to next week, and the races after that with even more parts."
On Saturday, Piastri finished 11th from 17th on the grid in the Sprint held in wet conditions, starting well down the order after being impeded by Charles Leclerc at the penultimate corner of the track on a flying lap in Q1, which saw the Ferrari driver hit with a three-place grid penalty.
With the track drying the longer the 24-lap race went, Piastri pitted on lap 16 from 16th position for soft slick tyres with nothing to lose. He surged forward in the final stages from last place as the drivers ahead of him began to struggle on their worn intermediate rubber.
"When we're on slicks when the track conditions are like that, we seem to be very quick," he said.
"It was quite satisfying passing a few people. Getting past Leclerc and (Williams' Alex) Albon in two corners was definitely the highlight.
"It was a fun afternoon – shame it wasn't for anything apart from some fun, but that's half the battle sometimes."
Oscar's Austrian Grand Prix by the numbers
- Sprint (24 laps): Started 17th, finished 11th
- Race (71 laps): Started 13th, finished 16th
- Pit stops/tyres: Lap 14 (medium/hard), Lap 22 (hard/hard), Lap 41 (hard/medium)
- Fastest lap: 1min 09.862secs (17th), lap 46
- Points this event: 0
- Points this season: 5 (14th in world championship)
