After an impressive performance which saw him overtaking Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on lap 36, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was third across the finish line at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, securing his place on the podium for the third time in the 2024 Formula One season, and only the fourth time in his Formula One career.
He was subsequently promoted to P2, following the disqualification of the first-place finisher, Mercedes’ George Russell, whose car was found to be underweight, in violation of Article 4.1 of the FIA Formula 1 Technical Regulations.
During Sunday’s post-race press conference, Piastri was asked whether he was satisfied with his performance and described the race as having been “well-executed” despite not opting for a one-stop strategy similar to that used by Russell who was first across the finish line.
“Yes, I’m pretty happy on the whole. I think it was a really well-executed race. I think, yeah, clearly the one-stop was a possibility and I think [that] probably there’s a lot of people out there kicking themselves [because] they didn’t consider it more, but I think we executed a great race.”
He praised the fast pace of the MCL38, acknowledging that their low starting position had been due to him not “putting it in the right position” during Saturday’s qualifying, and added that while he was happy with his final result, he believed that McLaren had not lived up to its full potential for the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Had a quick car and ultimately didn’t put it in the right position in qualifying yesterday. So, I think, given where we started, very happy, but ultimately, I think there was a bit more potential this weekend.”
Piastri was questioned further on his decision not to attempt a one-stop strategy, despite being on tyres of a similar age to Russell’s. The Mercedes driver, like Verstappen, pitted at the end of lap 10, swapped his medium compound tyres to the hard compound tyres on which he completed the remaining 34 laps of the race.
The Australian, however, stated that while he had briefly considered the one-stop strategy, he had not prioritised it, as his race had been more significantly affected by running in “dirty air” behind Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
“It did cross my mind, but not seriously enough. I was amazed at how much difference the dirty air made today. I think, when Lewis and Charles pitted for the second stop, I think I went one second faster just because I had clean air. So, that was impressive.”
He added that due to the rate of tyre degradation that he had been experiencing, a one-stop strategy had been deemed too risky with him having more than 15 laps remaining in the race, especially as he had believed that he had a strong chance to win anyway.
“But then it felt like it degged a little bit again after that point. With 16 laps, I think it was, or 15 laps around Spa, it felt like a pretty big risk to try and go to the end, and I knew that even with the tyre advantage that we were building up, that we had a strong chance to try and win the race anyway that way.”
The 23-year-old said that while he and his team should have perhaps given more consideration to a one-stop strategy, given its positive outcome for Russell, the two-stop strategy had worked well for him, despite his less advantageous starting position.
“Maybe we should have considered the one-stop a little bit more, but I think, with the two-stop, I think we did a good job of capitalising on it. Just unfortunately, on my side, [I] didn’t give us the track position in qualifying.”
When asked, Piastri stated that he believed that the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix had been one of his best races in his Formula One career and highlighted his overtake on Charles Leclerc to secure third position behind Russell and Hamilton, as having been a pivotal moment of his race. He added that his race pace had been strong, and lamented being unable to produce a better qualifying performance.
“I would say so. I’m not sure my front jack man agrees, but no, I think it was a really strong race. I think to try and get past Charles was not easy, and I think if I didn’t manage to do it on that lap, I probably would have been stuck there for a long time. That was a pretty pivotal moment of the race.
“I think just the pace was very strong. I felt very, very good this weekend. Even on Friday, the pace looked really strong. Just kicking myself a little bit that I didn’t get qualifying right. I think it was a very strong weekend and probably one of my better races.”
When asked how he felt going into the summer break after his recent strong performances, Piastri described his season as being “pretty good” despite some “tricky” races in Japan, China, and Barcelona.
“Yes, I mean, I think, definitely the last few weeks have been very strong from my side, I think. Yes, I think honestly, the whole season’s been pretty good. A couple of weekends in the middle of the year were a bit tricky. You know, Japan and China, mainly, were pretty tough, and obviously, Barcelona
The McLaren driver stated that he felt that he had “taken a step forward” from his rookie 2023 season, as while he had made some mistakes, he had been able to improve and “tidy up” his performances.
“But I feel like all the other races have been quite strong, just we’ve had a lot of things that haven’t been going our way in some ways. Whether it’s interesting track limit penalties or crashes or you know, mistakes, there’s always kind of been just things and I feel like the last few weekends, [we] have been able to tidy it up.
“So, I feel like I’ve taken a step forward from last year definitely, and I think in these tricky kinds of races like this, last year I was struggling. So, I feel like I’ve made good progress, and obviously, the car is very quick as well.”
He continued, “So I feel like I’m gaining some nice momentum, which is good, but I know how quickly, it can turn around and go the other way as well.”
Piastri was also questioned about his pitstop incident with his front jackman. The Australian driver had tried to do a quick pitstop to keep ahead of both Red Bull drivers and teammate, Lando Norris, but ran long in his pitbox, nearly colliding with his front jackman. Fortunately, the jackman escaped uninjured and was able to hook the jack up, allowing for the tyre change.
The Hungarian GP winner denied that the incident had resulted from pressure to challenge the drivers ahead of him. Instead, he stated that he had overshot his pitbox, having gotten used to undershooting throughout the weekend.
“No, I mean, I just went in a bit hot, really. I felt like on Friday, there was a lot of grip in the pitlane, and I was kind of always undershooting the box. Even my first pitstop, I probably undershot it a little bit. I had to break a little bit with Lewis [Hamilton] coming out, so maybe I was coming in a bit slow, but the second one, clearly, was a bit overdone. So, it wasn’t my finest moment.
“I don’t think it really cost much in the scheme of things. I think it meant [that] I probably would have just been stuck behind Lewis [Hamilton] and George [Russell] for another lap or two at the end. But yeah, obviously something [that] I want to tidy up for all the other races.”
Piastri’s moving into P2 sees him earn another 18 points, bringing his tally in the Drivers’ Championship to 167 points. He now sits fourth, just ten points behind Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc, who remains third with 177 points.
