The McLaren driver ended the Canadian weekend in P5 following a heated race that saw him in contention for what could have been a second podium finish in a row following his great result in Monaco.
Canada wasn’t as sweet as the Principality to Piastri, who ended his race behind both Mercedes drivers after being in third following the final safety car.
The Australian driver talked about his podium chances, admitting the Mercedes duo were on a mission.
“Pretty close until I got behind the Mercedes, and then I realised that they were on a mission.
“It would have been incredibly tough to keep them behind all the way to the end, especially being sort of the first car in the firing line for them.”
In spite of losing out to Russell and Hamilton, he wasn’t displeased with the final result, especially considering how chaotic the race was.
Mercedes decided to fit new tyres behind the last safety car, meaning Piastri’s tyres were 10 laps older.
”I tried my best to stay in front, but I think just on the new tyres they were clearly a lot quicker than everybody.
“So, obviously a little bit disappointing when we were looking for a podium for quite a while, but I think still a decent haul of points and on a weekend where it could have gone so wrong like it did for others, to come out with so many points for the team is still a good result.”
Asked how could the race have ended had he been on the same tyre strategy as the Mercedes drivers, Piastri admitted he might have got P4, but in reality pitting again at that point in the race would not have been enough for the podium.
“I think maybe, but if I had pitted I would have come out in fourth. So, I don’t think I would have gone past George probably.
“Maybe I would have been fourth instead of fifth, but I think having track position at that point would seem like a good option, and I think the new tyres were a bigger benefit than I expected as well. You live and learn.”
Piastri’s race engineer Tom Stallard asked the Australian if he thought he could push up to Verstappen in the closing laps, but the former F2 champion was focused on holding off Russell.
Ultimately, however, Mercedes just had too much pace.
“To be honest, Max I wasn’t really concerned about at that point. I felt like I was keeping with Lando, and we were kind of just going together, and I knew the Mercedes were going to be quick with new tyres.
“So yeah, some things to look at, whether it was necessary to focus on that at that point, specifically at that point of the race.
“But I think the Mercedes were going to come past at some point. I don’t know, I think George made a bit of a mistake at one point.
“Obviously we had a battle at the last chicane and him and Lewis had a bit of a battle too. I think without all that they probably would have finished second and third anyway.”
Mercedes’ consistent speed across the event, which led to their first pole of the season on Saturday through George Russell, was not a huge shock to Piastri.
“The fact that they were fast wasn’t a massive surprise. I think that they were so fast.
“FP3, I think Lewis’s lap, we were scratching our heads. We worked out why after the session, but during the session we were [thinking], ‘we’re never going to get close to that’.
“Even in Q2 when George did an 11.7 and I did a 12.1 or 12.2, I wasn’t going to find half a second.
“So I think they’ve been very quick this weekend, they’ve switched on the tyres well, and you kind of saw on the inters that that hurt them a little bit at certain points.
“Maybe just a stronger weekend for them, but it wasn’t totally unexpected. I think Monaco, they looked very strong at certain points.”
The 2021 Formula 2 Champion also discussed the opening part of the race when Norris and Piastri dropped away by over 10s. Russell and Verstappen bolted in the early laps, before McLaren came back as the stint went on. The Brit and Aussie were lapping a lot faster from lap 12 onwards, with Norris storming into the lead.
“Struggling a little bit with the pace, but also not destroying the tyres, I would say.
“You know, some laps were good, some were bad. Once I got into a rhythm, it was okay, and clearly they destroyed their tyres a bit more.
“So I think they probably just had a little bit more grip than us, because both me and Lando were coming at them towards the end of the first inter.”
A potential turning point in the race could have been Norris easing off a bit in order to help out the Australian in his battle with Russell to hold on to the final podium position by giving him DRS.
However, Piastri reckoned after the race that it wouldn’t have made much of a difference.
“I mean that’s what I wanted, but I’m not sure it would have been the best call as a team.
“I think it would have just meant that the Mercedes were closer to Lando once they got past me, because at the end of the race they were over a second faster a lap.
“At that point of the race it would have been helpful. But I’m not sure it would have been the right decision anyway.”
Finally, the McLaren driver discussed his lap 62 battle with George Russell for P3. The pair went side-by-side into the chicane, making small contact as the Mercedes driver failed to recognise Piastri was still alongside him.
“Need to see it a bit more. I think it’s an incredibly tough corner to go two-wide in. You need to be very brave to go around the outside.
“In the end, he got passed anyway, I don’t think it really changed the result.”
