Rookie Oscar Piastri was just under a second shy of the podium in the British Grand Prix. After qualifying third he had a great getaway, briefly challenging Max Verstappen for second, but after that he needed to settle for third place which looked locked in until Magnussen’s engine expired in lap 32, bringing out the safety car just after he had pitted for fresh boots. His hard tyres eventually came alive compared to Hamilton’s soft tyres, but unfortunately the laps had run out.
“Bittersweet is the word I would come up with,” he answered when asked how he would describe his feelings.
“To be fighting in the top three, I could only dream of that even last weekend.
“And yeah, to be disappointed with fourth place because of an unfortunate safety car is a very nice dilemma to have compared to what we’ve had earlier in the season.”
It was a huge testament to the improved pace of the McLaren team, as both drivers managed to qualify in the top three and were also looking to finish there, where Piastri was battling in the rear end of the grid just last week.
“So yeah, super proud of the team, of how we executed that race, and also for how we’ve made such a big turnaround.
“Even for me last weekend, we were one of the slowest with the old car, and this new car is a hell of a lot better on Sundays.
“So yeah, it’s a nice problem to have to be disappointed with fourth, but hopefully there’s plenty more opportunities to come.”
Both McLarens had a great getaway, slingshotting Norris in the lead and Piastri almost to second place. The Ozzy found it exciting to be battling with the reigning champion after the first part of the season wasn’t exactly fun.
“Yeah, it was pretty exciting. Especially at the beginning of the season, I think last weekend I got lapped by Max about halfway through the race, and this time I was almost overtaking him.
“So that is one hell of a turnaround, I would say.”
Knowing that the Red Bull would be too fast under normal circumstances, Piastri backed off and tried to use the RB19 a bit as a pacer for himself.
“I knew that getting in front of Max wasn’t the be all and end all for my race. We knew he was going to be quicker than us.
“So it was more about trying to hang on to the back of him and get him to pull us along with DRS, which we actually managed to do for a while.
“So that was a nice surprise, but to be fighting for the top three places, seeing Lando leading a race just in front of my eyes was a pretty cool moment for the team, I’m sure.”
When told he was the first rookie in a decade to qualify in the top three, he answered full of ambition: “It still doesn’t put a trophy on my head, unfortunately.”
But he was quick to laud his team and himself, knowing they were the second fastest team this weekend.
“We could be so proud of what we’ve done. I’m proud of myself. I feel like I had a very solid weekend.
“I feel like qualifying, I was very happy with the lap I’ve achieved. The race today, there’s been a few question marks for myself over managing a race stint and the medium.
“I was very happy with my race pace. The hard thing is still a little bit of improvement to make, but all in all, I don’t think I could have asked too much more at this point in my career.
“I’m very happy with what I managed to achieve, but also for the team to have genuinely the second quickest car. For a bit of bad luck, it could have been two cars on the podium.
“It’s a super happy weekend for everybody involved.”
