Oscar Piastri reveals ‘pressure point’ that led to his broken rib before the summer break

McLaren's Oscar Piastri was able to triumph in the Hungarian Grand Prix with a broken rib.

Oscar Piastri reveals ‘pressure point’ that led to his broken rib before the summer break

Oscar Piastri, image via IMAGO

F1 is a demanding sport that often pushes drivers to their limits. This statement was justified by Oscar Piastri‘s unwavering determination for success when he revealed about his rib fracture in a social media post. However, this post baffled experts on how the fracture initially occurred, to which the McLaren driver explained the reasoning behind.

In Australia, Carlos Sainz returned from his medical absence and won the Grand Prix, a feat that was achieved last by Gerhard Berger in 1997. The Spaniard’s strength was commended by the paddock. On the other hand, Oscar Piastri also drove a fantastic race in Hungary and won his maiden race in similar circumstances, which he later revealed.

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Subsequently, the 23-year-old gave an insight into when he felt the discomfort and found the root cause for it.

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Just from driving. You could say we put so much downforce on the car. But no, just from driving. You make the seat [at] the start of the year, and sometimes you get it a little bit wrong, and some tracks don't expose it, but I think going from Barcelona [to] Austria [to] Silverstone, they're three pretty hardcore tracks. [It was] just a bit of a pressure point, eventually my rib gave up, but it's all good again now, and we've changed the seat and fixed it immediately, pretty much, so all back to normal.
Oscar Piastri said in an interview as quoted by RacingNews365

The Australian explained that an error in the seat-making process had resulted in his ribs dealing with more pressure. From Spain to Britain, he faced high-downforce tracks causing his ribs to give up which he later deemed to be the pressure point in his struggles. However, he was convinced that the issue had been solved now and he had recovered from the pain which earlier haunted him.

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On the other hand, Piastri has outscored Lando Norris in the last few rounds. The Aussie would like to follow his upward trajectory and cause havoc within the Red Bull garage. However, Ferrari and Mercedes have also been amassing podiums recently which could threaten McLaren‘s bid for the constructor’s title.

McLaren's Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri
Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri (image via IMAGO)

Piastri reckoned that the top-four teams would have an interesting battle in the remaining races.

I think they'll be very strong (Mercedes). They've been one of the quickest in the last few races, even back in Silverstone they were the quickest and in Canada as well, even in Spa without George DSQ it was a 1-2. It'll be very even between us Mercedes, Red Bull, let's see if Ferrari pick up a little bit more but even saying that they don't need to find much to be back in the fight. I think it could be an exciting 4 team battle till the end of the year.
Oscar Piastri said in the media briefings

The 23-year-old claimed that Mercedes has been ahead of the field recently. Moreover, the German marque has won three out of the last four races. On the other hand, he also feared that if the Italian outfit got in the groove again, then they could take away points from McLaren.

Apart from this, the English team has brought a plethora of upgrades at Zandvoort. Thus, there could be a massive fight between the top four teams for the major points-paying positions at the tricky 4.2 km track.

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