McLaren driver Oscar Piastri didn’t have the best of runs in Monza. Described by himself as one of the most difficult races, the Australian driver finished in 12th. He crossed the line in P11 but was hit with a 5-second penalty.
“Yeah, I would say so. Certainly not the most straightforward afternoon. I think we knew coming here we’ll be towards the back end of the points anyway. Of course it’s never ideal to have an afternoon like that.”
During the race there were two main moments that posed an obstacle for the driver, creating the consequences that led Piastri to finish the race in 12th position: the first, during the pitstop, when Norris was boxed before Piastri, in spite of the Australian leading his teammate at that point. There was subsequent contact between the two as the Melbourne-born driver came out of his stop.
And then the decisive one, when Lewis Hamilton – attempting to overtake Piastri – closed the door on him heading into the second chicane and caused damage to Piastri’s front wing.
The Australian driver commented on the difficult race, explaining how there was not much to do in either case.
“Obviously not the afternoon we were looking for. I don’t think a whole lot went right, to be honest with you. The contact with Lewis (Hamilton) obviously was the biggest point. He apologised and the stewards gave out a penalty. I can’t ask for anything other than that.
“Yeah I mean, he just moved a bit too far to the right. I think it’s very easy to do in that corner, it’s very narrow. Yeah, I mean, he came to apologise, so. I don’t think there’s much more to it than that.”
On the contact with his teammate, the 22-year-old admitted it was far from ideal what happened and explained what happened from his point of view at that moment.
“Obviously not ideal.
“Fortunately, we were both fine after that. Of course, the intention is never to get that close. We’ll talk about it with the team. Obviously it was not an ideal scenario.
“I mean, I braked where I braked, and I couldn’t really slow down much more than that. I mean, I was at the limit of locking up. It was tight. In the end nothing happened. I am sure we’ll talk about it.”
The race ended, ultimately, with a penalty for the Australian, after battling Liam Lawson. He left the track and gained an advantage on the Kiwi by passing him off the track at the second chicane, moments after he cut the first chicane and gave the place back as Lawson got his elbows out. Piastri quickly shrugged it off, explaining his need to try and get back into the points zone.
“We didn’t actually have contact. At that point I was a lot quicker. Needed to get through cars quickly to try and get back into the points. The penalty is what it is.”
Photo Credit: McLaren Racing
