Piastri: frustrated in qualifying, surprised in the race and optimistic for Abu Dhabi

The weekend ofOscar piastri is quite particular to analyze. The Australian had three checkered days in Las Vegas: eliminated in Q1 on Friday evening (19th in Q1, 18th on the grid), a rare occurrence among McLaren At the end of the season, the rookie was much more brilliant on Saturday evening during the Grand Prix.

Benefiting from the various incidents at the first corner, the young 22-year-old driver was able to move up the hierarchy, and even found himself 3rd halfway through the race after the second intervention of the Safety Car. Unfortunately, McLaren was trapped in its own strategy, as its driver had only used hard tires in his first two stints, forcing him to stop a second time. The British team waited until the 44th lap of the 50 contested to stop it, in the hope of another interruption of the race.

Despite this failed strategy, Oscar Piastri still managed to return to the points zone (10th) and record the best lap in the race. “We looked good for a long time, obviously it's a shame to make an extra stop, regrets the McLaren driver. The pace was very good, and it's nice to get a bonus point for the fastest lap. »

Piastri wants to “finish in style” in Abu Dhabi

A positive final note after a confusing weekend at McLaren: nowhere in qualifying, the MCL60 showed great things in the hands of Oscar Piastri in the race, and makes the early accident of Lando Norris even more regrettable. “The day wasn't the easiest for a lot of people, it was a pretty confusing race. But I think with everything that happened, it was more or less the best we could do, so yeah, I'm happy with the pace and I just regret that we came so far away and that some things were not the way we wanted them to be.", nevertheless emphasizes the young Aussie.

Oscar Piastri, who is experiencing a more complicated end to the season than expected with only six points from the last four Grands Prix, hopes to finish his first season with panache, reassured by the pace displayed by his McLaren in the race in Las Vegas. “It's good to know that the pace of the car is always good in the race, on a circuit like this which we knew didn't really suit us. I hope that in Abu Dhabi we can end the year on a high note. »

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