“Disappointing weekend” for Piastri, no response to Norris

While his teammate Lando Norris celebrated his second victory in Formula 1, obtained in total domination during this Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort, Oscar piastri was much more perplexed by his lack of rhythm during this fifteenth round of the season. Starting third, he, like Norris, got off to a bad start, seeing George Russell overtake him from the start with his Mercedes. Where Lando Norris managed to come back Max Verstappen then overtaking him before the pit stops, Piastri was never able to find the opening on the Silver Arrow. Victim of the turbulence, the Australian was condemned to a waiting race.

“It’s a real shame, it’s been a pretty disappointing weekend to be honest”, he explained on the microphone of the official F1 website. “I wasn't as good as I needed to be in qualifying, and neither in the race in the end. The start wasn't very good for both cars, so we'll have to look at it more closely as a team. I really couldn't make the progress I needed after this bad takeoff, I had too much turbulence. And ultimately, it made for a pretty painful afternoon! There are clearly things to analyze. »

A mandatory overcut

Once Charles Leclerc, then fifth, went through the pit lane on the 24th lap, the strategy of McLaren was imposed on him: having to stay on the track as long as possible and hope for an overcut while being in clean air, or else come back at the end of the event. Piastri finally stopped nine laps after the Ferrari, and eight after Russell's Mercedes, behind which he returned to the track. If he was able to have access to the car n°63, he was also unable to do anything to find an opening on the Monegasque's Ferrari, who offered himself a podium that looked like a “miracle” as he himself declared.

“Once Leclerc made the undercut, our only option was to stay on track as long as possible, honestly. I think it worked well on Russell, but once I got back to the Ferrari it was too late and the advantage I had in terms of tire capital was gone. It's a shame, but I think we can also work on other aspects of this weekend. »

Still fourth in the championship, Oscar Piastri lost points to third-placed Charles Leclerc for the first time since the Spanish Grand Prix. We bet that the Australian will want to reverse this new trend on Tifosi lands next weekend…

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