McLaren’s Oscar Piastri turned a disappointing P17 qualifying position into a points-scoring finish at the Mexican Grand Prix, crossing the line in eighth place after a determined recovery drive through the field.
The Australian rookie, who started from the back of the grid following his Q1 exit on Saturday, showed strong race pace as he methodically worked his way through the pack. His progress included notable battles with Franco Colapinto, whom he had to pass multiple times during the race.
In the end he made 14 overtakes on his way through to P8.
“I think looking at last year’s race for Lando, and even last week for George, it’s very tough, no matter which car you’re in to get through a pack,” Piastri explained post-race.
“You kind of need to wait for everything to spread out a bit, and once it did spread out, then I was able to come through reasonably quickly.”
A key feature of Piastri’s race strategy was a lengthy 40-lap stint on the medium compound tires. The extended run proved challenging, particularly when stuck in traffic. His battles with Colapinto were particularly noteworthy, with the Argentine rookie putting up stern resistance.
“Honestly, in the first stint he was not too slow,” Piastri said of Colapinto.
“I think after I pitted he had quite a big moment and then defended very hard, which I think cost both of us a lot of time. But, you know, he can do what he wants. He doesn’t have to make life easy.”
As the race progressed, Piastri’s pace improved in clean air. His charge through the field included decisive moves on Valtteri Bottas, Pierre Gasly, and ultimately Nico Hülkenberg in the closing stages to secure eighth place, narrowly missing out on P7 to Kevin Magnussen.
Despite the points finish, Piastri acknowledged the importance of better qualifying performances following a poor mistake in Q1 on Saturday.
“The key in that is make sure you’ve got clean air by qualifying in front of you,” he reflected.
Looking at the bigger picture, Piastri found positives in his Mexico City weekend, particularly when compared to his previous race in Austin.
“Outside of the results, honestly I felt like it was coming together to be a good weekend, so the result is obviously a massive shame. But I think there’s still some positives, comparing to last weekend, which was a pretty lonely P5. I felt like today I at least had a bit more control over my destiny.”
With the Brazilian Grand Prix just a week away, Oscar Piastri remains optimistic about his form. “Looking forward to next week,” he concluded.
“Obviously, some things to improve, but I think outside of the results, behind the scenes, I felt like it was a much more positive weekend than Austin.”
