Oscar Piastri not ‘completely surprised’ by Ferrari’s stellar 1-2 finish at US GP
Ferrari dominated the weekend in Austin, which did not come out as a surprise for McLaren's Oscar Piastri.
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Oscar Piastri and Charles Leclerc (Via: Imago)
After starting from the second row of the grid at the US GP, Ferrari had decent expectations from the race. Moreover, these expectations were fulfilled by the pair of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz, who brought home a 1-2 finish on US soil after almost two decades for the Maranello-based outfit. Despite Ferrari’s seemingly sudden change in fortune, this did not shock McLaren‘s Oscar Piastri, who had a dull race and managed to bag a P5 finish behind his teammate.
Ferrari had a subpar weekend in Singapore after a shocker of a qualifying session ruined their chances at having a great weekend. However, after a month-long break, the Italian squad was one of the few teams that did not bring a major upgrade to the race. In spite of this, Charles Leclerc utilised the opportunity that was given to him into turn one and led home a brilliant 1-2 for Ferrari, with Carlos Sainz following him behind.
On the other hand, F1 pace-setters McLaren, were shadowed by their Italian nemesis during the race. However, this performance change did not take Oscar Piastri by a hit as he expected the SF-24’s to have great pace.
To be honest, it’s not a complete surprise where we ended up and where Ferrari ended up. Lando[Norris] made us look more competitive than we were yesterday. Fourth and fifth today is not completely unexpected.
Oscar Piastri said in a post-race interview as quoted by Speedcafe
Apart from this, the weekend in Austin would be remembered for the close call that the title contenders, Verstappen and Norris had. Thus, things at the driver’s front also tense up as the final few rounds of the F1 2024 season lay knocking on the door.
Oscar Piastri does not discount out Ferrari after impressive US GP result
While Ferrari scored a huge haul of points at the US GP, they still have a 48-point deficit to McLaren in the constructor’s standings. This has made Ferrari a possible threat for the constructor’s championship. Subsequently, alarm bells have sounded within the McLaren HQ as Piastri explained how the prancing horses could not be discounted out from having a take at the front of the field.
The 23-year-old elaborated how a few more bad weekends could put McLaren in a vulnerable position. All while, Ferrari appear to be getting stronger according to the recent trends.
I hope this is our weakest of the next six. We had some good races at the tracks coming up last year. We had some bad races at the tracks coming up. I think in general we should be a bit more competitive but I’m certainly not expecting the Ferraris to be out of the picture for the rest of the year either.
Oscar Piastri said in the same interview
On the other hand, the Maranello-based squad only has an eight-point gap to Red Bull. Moreover, with the stark difference in the performance between the driver pair, Ferrari would almost certainly leapfrog their Austrian rivals in the standings. Thus, making the Milton Keynes-based squad’s 2024 season nightmarish after giving glimpses of pure domination in the early phase of the season.
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Geetansh Pasricha
(772 Articles Published)