Oscar Piastri claims ignoring team order led to his Azerbaijan GP victory
While Oscar Piastri regretted ignoring his race engineer's advice, he was happy that it ultimately led to his Azerbaijan GP win.
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Oscar Piastri (via IMAGO)
Oscar Piastri has joined the ranks of drivers with multiple race wins this season, alongside his teammate Lando Norris. Piastri delivered an outstanding performance to secure his second career victory at the Azerbaijan GP, overtaking Charles Leclerc spectacularly. However, he believes that ignoring team orders was key to his race victory.
After the race, Oscar Piastri explained that he had to push his car to its limits to get the lead. When he drove aggressively, his tires became worn out and made it difficult for him to maintain high speed. This situation made it harder for the 23-year-old to stay ahead.
I think today the lack of pace was just because I had to push flat out to get into the lead, and obviously when you do that, your tyres are pretty fried and then trying to keep that pace to stay ahead.Oscar Piastri said, as reported by pitdebrief.com
Piastri admitted that his aggressive driving, which wore out his tires, was crucial to winning the race. He felt a bit regretful for ignoring his race engineer’s advice after damaging his tires early in the race. He ignored what was told to him and did what he thought was right, which ultimately helped him secure the win.
It’s what won me the race. I felt a bit sorry for my race engineer, because I basically tried to do that in the first stint and completely cooked my tyres. So my engineer came on the radio and said, ‘let’s not do that again’, basically. And I completely ignored him the next lap and sent it down the inside.Oscar Piastri added
Oscar Piastri felt ‘surprised’ after overtaking Charles Leclerc at the Azerbaijan GP
Oscar Piastri mentioned that he had an opportunity to overtake Charles Leclerc, which he couldn’t afford to miss. The Aussie noted that this might have been his only chance. He commended Leclerc for being fair, acknowledging that the 26-year-old might have expected him to miss the corner and go off track. Despite this, Piastri was pleasantly surprised to successfully navigate the corner and make the pass.
If I didn’t take that opportunity then I was never going to have another one,” said Piastri. “I mean credit to Charles. He was incredibly fair. I think maybe he thought I was going to sail on into the run-off but I was pleasantly surprised that I actually made the corner.Oscar Piastri explained
Therefore, Piastri was surprised that he actually managed to overtake Leclerc at that moment. Despite McLaren being generally slower than Ferrari in Baku, the 23-year-old defended his position effectively. Fans were thrilled with Piastri’s impressive performance, which helped McLaren take the lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
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Gaurang Kadam
(535 Articles Published)