Oscar Piastri laments losing Belgian GP to Mercedes after podium finish

Oscar Piastri claimed his sixth podium in F1 at the Belgian GP.

Oscar Piastri laments losing Belgian GP to Mercedes after podium finish

Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO)

McLaren arrived at Spa Francorchamps as the latest team to score a 1-2 finish. With momentum on their side, the Woking-based squad aimed to make the most out of the weekend. However, a mediocre qualifying hampered their progress with shenanigans during the race, limiting them to a P3 finish. This disappointed Oscar Piastri as he could have taken a few more points away from Mercedes if the race had been a bit longer.

Oscar Piastri was the lead McLaren for the race in Belgium as his teammate ventured into the gravel trap at turn one. However, the Australian’s carriage was halted mid-way through the race as he was stuck in a DRS train and could not extract the full potential of the MCL38. On the other hand, when the 23-year-old was set loose, he started banging in fast laps on much older tires.

YouTube video

However, a mishap during the pitstop cost the Australian around two seconds, which came back to bite him in the latter stages of the race.

FS Video
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. I spent too long trying to overtake Charles and the tyres overheated.
Oscar Piastri said in the post-race interview

Despite claiming another podium finish, Piastri reckoned he could have achieved more. With the 23-year-old finishing a mere second off the lead, he was left disappointed as he witnessed flashbacks from the race in Austria.

RELATED
Fred Vasseur refutes Lewis Hamilton’s remarks over asking Max Verstappen to be ‘politically correct’
Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, Fredric Vassuer

Oscar Piastri takes a dig at Max Verstappen’s pace in the Belgian GP

While the McLaren was fastest on the track in clean air, Max Verstappen seemed stuck in the midfield battle. For most of the race, the Dutchman was in a battle with Lando Norris and struggled to keep the raging Brit behind him.

Oscar Piastri [L] Max Verstappen [R]
Oscar Piastri [L] Max Verstappen [R] (via IMAGO)

Observing the reigning champion’s lack of pace, Piastri took a jibe at Verstappen. 

I thought Max[Verstappen] was going to be quicker than that.
Oscar Piastri said in the cooldown room

The McLaren driver reckoned that Verstappen should have been faster during the race. On the contrary, the Dutchman emerged the fastest during qualifying and was predicted to be on the podium, which led the Aussie to question his pace.

Despite Piastri’s dissatisfaction, McLaren closed the gap up to the Austrian giant. Moreover, the Woking-based squad trails Red Bull by 44 points and is expected to take the fight into the second part of the season as the summer break settles on the F1 paddock.

In case you missed it: