Oscar Piastri may have had to settle for fifth place at the Italian Grand Prix, but the McLaren driver saw plenty of positives from a turbulent weekend at Monza. After starting sixth due to a grid penalty, he was involved in a fierce battle with teammate Lando Norris, Max Verstappen, and Lewis Hamilton before ultimately crossing the line in fifth.
Piastri's final fight came against Norris, who initially passed him on Lap 48 for fourth before Piastri reclaimed the position and defended hard when his teammate attempted to respond into Turn 3 on Lap 52. Norris complained over the radio that he had been forced off, prompting McLaren to remind Piastri to maintain 'clean racing'. The reigning world champion eventually made his way back ahead on the final lap.
Despite losing the position at the end, Piastri felt the race was one of his best battles of the season. “It was a good battle. Quite a lot of back and forth between us. Would have loved to have hung on to it obviously. But I think it was a good battle,” he told Sky Sports F1. He added that racing a teammate has its own challenges since both know each other's strengths and weaknesses.
Norris also softened his stance after climbing from the car, walking back his initial radio complaint. “I don't think so, honestly. It's just when you're in the car, things happen very quickly,” he said. He described the battle as a good, tough fight and was satisfied with his fourth-place finish.
For Piastri, the Monza weekend represented a significant improvement after a difficult run of recent rounds. “I think this weekend was a lot stronger than the last few, which is good obviously. There's still room to improve for sure, but I think this weekend was a much better step in the right direction,” he said. He also spent time inside the podium places and twice traded third position with Verstappen before getting locked in the late fight with Norris.
Norris, however, was less satisfied with McLaren's overall performance despite beating his teammate to fourth, pointing to qualifying and the team's outright pace as areas that remained below expectations. “I don't care about the end sample because the first sample is not good enough. Qualifying is not good enough. And just general pace,” he said. The result shows McLaren still has work to do to consistently compete at the front.
Read Also
Liam Lawson explains the incident with Nico Hulkenberg that damaged his front wing at the Italian GP, resulting in a frustrating 14th place finish. Read more.
Yuki Tsunoda keeps Italian GP point after stewards' probe. Read analysis of the stewards' decision and its impact on Racing Bulls in the standings.
Lewis Hamilton urges Ferrari to implement internal rules after being pushed wide by Charles Leclerc on the opening lap of the Italian GP, ruining the team's chance at Monza.
Continue with Google
Discussion (0)
Join the Discussion!
Sign in easily to start commenting, replying, and interacting with other readers.
Latest Comments
No comments yet. Be the first!