Oscar Piastri was left a bit frustrated behind Lewis Hamilton, even though he scored some handy points in F1 Saudi Arabian GP.
The safety car did help few of the drivers with the strategy and McLaren’s Piastri found himself in a good position to end up fourth, just off the podium. It didn’t come smoothly as for a long time he was stuck behind Mercedes’ Hamilton.
Only after Hamilton pitted, Piastri got a bit free air to surge ahead. The straightline speed wasn’t enough for McLaren to overpower Mercedes, even though the Australian looked a bit quicker than the Brit for most part of the grand prix.
It did frustrate Piastri a bit, while highlighting some of the McLaren’s weaknesses that still persists. “I’m not sure fun is the word I would use,” he said to media. “Frustrating, yes. I mean, I think it kind of just showed a couple of weaknesses of ours definitely. I was very relieved when he boxed out of the way but just didn’t quite have enough on the straights mainly to get past.
“I was hoping he was going to pit about 15 laps before he did, but I think he started to struggle on the tires because I was basically past him when he boxed. He had to pit at some stage, and that seemed like a good time to do it. I think it’s very, very even. I think we have different strengths and weaknesses for sure.
“And I think qualifying made the difference. I think Lewis showed that if we qualify behind them, there was a good chance we were going to be stuck behind them for the whole night. So I think it’s very, very tight between us. And yeah, we need to do some work to try and jump them and catch the two teams ahead,” summed up Piastri.
While the Australian was 50-50 about the outcome, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella was full of praise of Piastri after collecting 12 points. It was a matured drive where the Italian felt he didn’t get down or nervous unlike the previous occasions.
“Oscar’s race was effectively cashing in the strong result he had in qualifying,” said Stella. “He managed to gain one more place, in what was a very clean and solid race, staying out of trouble, being quick but also patient when you have to be. He didn’t get nervous like: ‘I’ve not been able to pass Hamilton and I am going to attack more’.
“Actually at one stage, he had a little lock-up into a corner and a couple of times went off, but he stayed calm and waited for the race to come to him. We are very pleased, but not surprised because we’ve spent a lot of time with Oscar, we’ve seen all the details, all the data and we know that his potential is very high. His consistency from a racing and mental point of view is strong, and the way that he just stays calm and makes sure he uses the full extent of his talent, I think is his strongest characteristic.”
Here’s how F1 Saudi Arabian GP panned out
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