WATCH: McLaren avoid disaster as Oscar Piastri almost hits pit crew during Belgian GP

Oscar Piastri is known for his calm demeanour but had a mishap during his second pitstop.

WATCH: McLaren avoid disaster as Oscar Piastri almost hits pit crew during Belgian GP

Oscar Piastri and his pitstop mishap(image via IMAGO and the screenshot via SkySports F1)

The Belgian GP was set to be a battle for the championship titans. McLaren aimed their sights at catching up to the reigning champions. Lando Norris had a timid outing during the race causing Oscar Piastri to carry McLaren’s hopes. However, the Aussie collided with his pit crew during the race hampering his charge for the top.

Oscar Piastri became the 115th different race winner after his victory in Hungary. This gave the 23-year-old a motivation boost and helped him claw a third-row start for the Belgian GP. Despite him starting the race in a decent position, Piastri was held behind the fighting trio up ahead in the early stages. This urged the team to look for a strategic masterclass and to jump the rivals up ahead.

YouTube video

However, the strategic gamble cost the Aussie as he missed his marks in the pits and pushed a bit too much on the front jackman’s jack.

FS Video

Piastri locked up his tires entering his marks. This caused the MCL38 to drift across and hit his pit crew member. Despite the unfortunate incident, McLaren was saved by the pit crew member, as he absorbed the impact and rescued the pitstop from being a total disaster.

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Oscar Piastri heads down to get a spot on the podium for McLaren

Despite losing time in the pits, the 23-year-old was the fastest man on the track for quite some time. Moreover, with the pace he was depicting, the Australian forecasted a podium and achieved it by clawing past Charles Leclerc in the final phase.

Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO)

Subsequently, Piastri finished P3 with a few tenths separating him from the race lead.

Honestly yes, I thought I could [get the Mercedes] as clean air made such a difference today. Happy with the result, we managed the race very well, think that's the second or third time this year we've tried to run over the front jack so I'll try and not do that again.
Oscar Piastri said in the post-race interview

The Aussie was satisfied with the result but reckoned that he could have achieved more as the top two spots were up for grabs. Despite his stellar performance, he admitted his mistake in the pitstop and claimed he would get that issue sorted out.

Apart from this, George Russell took his second Grand Prix victory of the season. Moreover, Mercedes secured their latest 1-2 catapulting themselves in the constructor’s standings.

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