Tag: Oscar Piastri

Verstappen crowned champion with second in Qatar sprint as Piastri grabs maiden win

Max Verstappen has won the 2023 Formula 1 world championship after finishing the Qatar sprint second behind first-time winner Oscar Piastri. Verstappen started third on the grid but needed only to prevent teammate Sergio Perez from outscoring him by …

Max Verstappen has won the 2023 Formula 1 world championship after finishing the Qatar sprint second behind first-time winner Oscar Piastri.

Verstappen started third on the grid but needed only to prevent teammate Sergio Perez from outscoring him by six points to seal the deal in the 62-mile sprint.

Polesitter Piastri took the lead thanks to a sizzling start, with soft-tire gambler George Russell slotting into second ahead of Ferrari teammates Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

Verstappen got a poor start and dropped to fifth after being crowded wide off the track by a slower-starting Lando Norris, but his battle to move forward was halted almost immediately by a safety car to collect Liam Lawson’s AlphaTauri — beached in the stones at Turn 2 due to a snap of oversteer on the low-grip track.

Piastri couldn’t shake Russell at the restart, and a wide approach to Turn 6 left the door fractionally ajar to a deep dive from the Mercedes driver to take the lead, the soft tires outgunning the McLaren’s mediums.

The race was slowed again before the lead battle could really get going, this time for the spun-off Logan Sargeant at Turn 7, and at the resumption Russell gapped the field by more than a second, keeping himself safely out of DRS range.

Russell and his fellow soft-tire gamblers rapidly began to suffer for their choice of rubber.

By lap nine, with the help of DRS, Verstappen was easily through on both soft-shod Ferrari drivers into third, and one lap later Piastri had closed back onto Russell’s gearbox and was comfortably through into the lead into the first turn of lap 11.

Russell radioed his team frantically that his tires were done and to consider a pit stop when the safety car was deployed a third time for a three-car crash between Esteban Ocon, Nico Hulkenberg and sole title rival Perez.

Hulkenberg was sandwiched by Ocon on his inside and Perez on his outside into Turn 2. The Alpine hadn’t registered he was battling a pair of cars to his right side and attempted to take the racing line in the braking zone but instead struck the front-left tyre of the Haas. The Haas in turn knocked the Red Bull Racing machine, sending all three spinning off the road. Hulkenberg returned to the pits with race-ending damage, while Ocon and Perez had their races ended, beached in the gravel.

With the Mexican unable to score, the title was decided in Verstappen’s favor with eight laps still to run.

The race resumed on lap 14 with Piastri in the lead, and by the end of that tour Verstappen was pressuring Russell for second, forcing the Briton to concede the place into the first turn of lap 16.

The gap to the lead stood at 2.6s with four laps remaining, but Verstappen could reduce the margin by only 0.6s in his first two laps.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

Piastri stabilized the gap expertly, losing only another 0.2s to claim his first race win in Formula 1, with Verstappen doing more than enough to claim his third world title from second.

“A fantastic feeling,” Verstappen said. “It’s been an incredible year, a lot of great races.

“I’m super proud of the job of the team. It’s just been so enjoyable to be part of that group of people.

“Today was quite an exciting race. A bit of a shame with the safety cars, but overall it was good. It was fun out there.

“I’m enjoying the moment, and hopefully of course we can keep this momentum going for a while.

“To be a three-time world champion is just incredible.”

Piastri collected the first win of his career and McLaren’s first victory since compatriot Daniel Ricciardo won the Italian Grand Prix in 2021, albeit his landmark result coming in a sprint race.

“Very happy,” he said. “A very stressful race.

“When I saw all the soft guys come through at the start I thought we were in a bit of trouble, but then their tires fell off pretty quickly.

“The safety car was my friend today, especially once Max got behind me, but the pace was reasonable.

“First sprint win sounds pretty cool.”

Norris recovered to third place late in the race, passing both Ferrari drivers and the fading Russell in the final three laps to stand on the sprint podium.

“First of all congrats to Oscar and congrats to Max,” the Briton said.” [Oscar’s] first win — earlier than mine — well done to him.

“Another podium or us, so for the team it’s been a mega day.”

George Russell retained fourth ahead of medium-starting teammate Lewis Hamilton, who recovered seven places from his starting position as the soft starters on the grid slipped down the order.

Carlos Sainz held sixth ahead of teammate Charles Leclerc, but the Monegasque was just 0.004s ahead of the charging Alex Albon, who finished eighth, up from 17th on the grid, to score the final point of the sprint.

Fernando Alonso battled with Norris early but sunk to ninth ahead of Pierre Gasly, Valtteri Bottas, Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll, Kevin Magnussen and Zhou Guanyu.

Race pace will come with experience for Piastri – Stella

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri can only improve his race pace with experience and is showing all of the signs that he will develop quickly as a driver. Piastri scored his first podium at the Japanese Grand Prix but was …

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri can only improve his race pace with experience and is showing all of the signs that he will develop quickly as a driver.

Piastri scored his first podium at the Japanese Grand Prix but was comfortably beaten to second place by teammate Lando Norris in a race of high tire degradation at Suzuka. The Australian stated he wasn’t fast enough in certain sections of the race and Stella says it’s natural for a rookie to need to experience such challenges to build up the knowledge required to handle tire-limited races.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I think when it comes to race pace, it’s not like you learn race pace and then it’s a set of skills that you deploy for every race,” Stella said.

“So I think that’s why it’s a bit of a journey and it takes time because every situation presents its own characteristics. I’m sure Oscar will have learned things and actually I think towards the end he was already better than he was in the second stint.

“It’s just systematic work of cashing in all the possible learning. There’s not one-off learning that is applicable to every situation, it’s just a rookie element.

“But the first thing I would take is always the outright speed, which is what we saw (in qualifying), because when you have that, race pace and all these things are much easier to work on. But finding the edge on a single lap in Suzuka like was saw is more difficult to sort of work together with your engineers, that’s a gift.”

The double podium result in Japan helped McLaren closed the gap to Aston Martin in the constructors’ championship to 49 points, but Stella says he doesn’t need to openly set the team a target of winning that battle.

“I don’t even want to think that there’s anybody at McLaren that needs this kind of carrot to push any harder, because I trust and I believe that everyone is pushing at the fastest reasonable sustainable pace. That’s what I want and that’s what I think is happening.

“If you start thinking of ‘We need to finish fourth’, everyone will say ‘Andrea, we know already, you don’t need to tell us, we don’t have to declare this to the world, we’re just going as fast as we can’. That’s the attitude.”

Maiden podium caps off stellar week for Piastri and McLaren

Oscar Piastri capped off a special week that included a contract extension and first front-row start with his maiden podium at the Japanese Grand Prix. On Wednesday McLaren announced a new deal for Piastri that keeps him with the team until the end …

Oscar Piastri capped off a special week that included a contract extension and first front-row start with his maiden podium at the Japanese Grand Prix.

On Wednesday McLaren announced a new deal for Piastri that keeps him with the team until the end of the 2026 season, and then on Saturday he secured his first top-two qualifying result for a grand prix, having only previously started a Sprint from the front row. A solid run to third gave the Australian rookie his first podium finish, although he feels he didn’t deliver his best race performance.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

“It’s definitely been a pretty special week with the announcement of the extension and then qualifying on the front row yesterday, first podium today,” Piastri said. “It’s been a very fun week. [There’s] still a lot to learn and try and improve on, but I’ll enjoy the moment for now.

“To get the first one, I don’t think it really matters where, It’s always going to be special. I think for myself, it probably wasn’t my strongest Sunday, so from that side of things, there are still a few things I want to work on. To get the first podium on pace as well is a very exciting moment.”

Piastri says a race like Suzuka — where only one car one-stopped due to high levels of degradation — will also prove to be good experience for him moving forwards.

“I just wasn’t quick enough at certain points of the race. These high deg races are probably the biggest thing I need to try and work on at the moment. I think it’s still quite fresh for me — obviously in all the junior racing before, there’s no races like this, so the only way you can learn is by doing the races.

“Had I done this race again, I’d have done it a bit different, but that’s all part of the learning. [It’s] exciting to know we can finish on the podium even if I feel there’s more to come.”

Teammate Lando Norris finished second for the second race in a row as McLaren picked up its first double podium of the year, and he says the result is a sweet one because of the team’s outright performance.

“From the team’s side of things, yes, I’m much happier,” Norris said. “Our first one (double podium) since Monza a few years ago. But in a way, our most deserved in terms of we’re there on pure pace. Nothing had to go our way, we’re just where we deserved to be.

“An incredible day for everyone, but also for myself. Things went maybe not always to plan, but the pace was extremely strong.

“I couldn’t challenge Max (Verstappen), I got into the lead for maybe half a second, so I’ll take that. In a way it feels better because the pace feels stronger, I could push. We were where we deserved to be. So a good job by the whole team to execute a perfect race.”

The Schumacher and Alonso qualities McLaren sees in Piastri

Oscar Piastri’s rookie season in Formula 1 has been consistently impressive to those on the outside, but McLaren team principal Andrea Stella sees similarities with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in certain areas that points to …

Oscar Piastri’s rookie season in Formula 1 has been consistently impressive to those on the outside, but McLaren team principal Andrea Stella sees similarities with the likes of Michael Schumacher and Fernando Alonso in certain areas that points to an even brighter future.

McLaren signed Piastri from Alpine in the middle of last season and had to go through a legal process to prove it had the contractual right to the highly rated Australian. A little over a year later after his arrival was confirmed, Piastri now has a fresh contract that runs through to the end of 2026, securing his long-term future after just 15 races.

For Stella, the success of Piastri is not unexpected given the amount of research into his abilities and potential McLaren committed to. The McLaren team boss offered high praise of some of the 22-year-old’s attributes that he likened to multiple world champions he has worked with.

“Obviously when McLaren so strongly wanted to sign Oscar, we looked at the results in the junior categories,” Stella said. “But what happened in the early days of the collaboration with Oscar is we could see that what he achieved in the junior categories had good reasons for that to happen.

“We could see this in the natural speed, which is related to the talent to some extent. We even saw it in the first day of the simulator in the way he was assessing his own performance, saying, ‘This is where I am. This is where I need to improve.’ It was matching so well with what we could see from the data. That was quite impressive.

“That’s where I thought, ‘It’s just a gift’ to some extent. His self-awareness in relation to speed, in relation to how to go and grab this speed opportunity — this became apparent at the tests and then race by race.

“Then we saw the qualities at the attitudinal level, and these qualities have to do with being able to continuously improve. You may be as talented as I’m saying, but I’m sure there are a lot of people that were talented but it didn’t lead anywhere because there was no attitude to continuous improvements.

“I think we have really good examples now on the grid of drivers that can keep being extremely competitive because of continuous improvements. I think this one is a similarity with Fernando (Alonso).

“Then we have the person behind the driver. For us it was important to make sure that the person that we keep on board is a person that not only fits our culture but will contribute to establishing the culture even more and potentially adding to the culture — adding to the values and the behaviors that make us become a team of mates.

“And in this sense Oscar, I have to say, from just a personal point of view, if he wasn’t a Formula 1 driver, I would appreciate him as a person. The values he brings into the sport and the values he brings into the collaboration with the team in this sense makes me think about Michael (Schumacher).

“Somebody who worked with Michael here in the paddock — he is at another team — said to me he was so capable of building families. He was definitely tough on track, but within the team, the spirit, the sense of unity was like a family.

“So I think I’m referring to natural talent, attitude culture and values. These three things became apparent to us relatively soon, and that’s why the conversations started soon.”

Those conversations were not about a simple contract extension, Stella says, but a new deal that reflects the faith McLaren has in Piastri as a future championship contender.

“It is a new contract because it became very apparent for us that we wanted to secure this prospect and we wanted to realize the full extent of the collaboration,” Stella emphasized. “It came at the point in which it was very apparent for us that Oscar is the right driver for McLaren, because of many, many reasons. I would like to say that this has been clear to us very early.

“The announcement comes now but actually the agreement was found pretty early on because what we needed to assess became clear and apparent to us very soon. I’m happy to say that the same was on Oscar’s side. It was a recognized by both parties that this is the collaboration that should lead both parties — from a team point of view and from a driver point of view — into the future.”

It’s not just from a driving point of view that Piastri has impressed McLaren either, with his approach and demeanor proving the perfect fit and helping create an atmosphere that Stella says is important to allow the team to perform at its best.

“There’s one attribute of his personality that we all appreciate and that when you are in a pressurized environment like Formula 1 becomes very important: he is a calm, considerate person,” Stella noted. “He doesn’t have nervous reactions. He doesn’t have unnecessary irritation. He doesn’t have tension in his comments.

“His comments are a genuine report of what happens with the car or of what happens in a situation that wasn’t ideal — you know you can trust what he’s saying. He’s not speculatively adding anything because he needs to promote himself. He’s trustworthy and calm.

“To be honest, calmness is a quality I generally try to strengthen as much as possible throughout the team because otherwise you can become — like I say, there are already enough reasons to be tense for the competition itself. Nobody should create additional (tension) just through behaviors or the way you speak to your colleagues or the way you report things.

“So he is calm. He is very considerate with his words. He is very considered with the way he presents himself and he’s somebody you know you can trust.”

Stella (middle) says Piastri’s natural acceptance of the role of team player alongside teammate Lando Norris is as valuable to McLaren as his speed. Steven Tee/Motorsport Images

Stella cites Piastri’s ready acceptance of McLaren’s decision to try out upgrades on Lando Norris’s car first as another example of the Australian being able to put the team’s long-term prospects ahead of his own short-term ones

“Twice this year we had a situation where we needed to make a call: who do we give the new upgrades? Both times they went to Lando because we thought that’s the best thing for the team, which is the only perspective to decisions that we adopt in our team,” Stella said. “Like in Singapore, for instance — new track for Oscar, very tricky track. Do you really want to give him the concern in free practice one? It could be wet, and this decision needed to be made weeks before because we needed to change the chassis at the factory. But let’s leave Oscar alone. He builds up through the weekend, and he managed from 17 to finish seventh thanks to that.

“In both times the conversations with Oscar were calm, rational and constructive where it was easy for me to say, ‘I’m talking in the name of the team’ and it was easy for him to understand that. Even if as a driver you always want to have the highest potential package, it definitely prevailed in his rational team-player approach to this conversation.

“At no point during the Singapore weekend did we have any annoyance, any comment like, ‘I’m a little slower here but obviously the other one has the new parts.’ Not even indirectly. And this means that everyone listening, everyone looking at the person, gets (shown) something by example.

“That’s the fit with the culture. Leaders — and drivers are definitely leaders in a Formula 1 team — lead by example, and Oscar you can trust is going to do it even when he is at a disadvantage.”

McLaren F1 extends Oscar Piastri through 2026

McLaren locks up one of the grid’s most promising young drivers.

McLaren’s Formula 1 team managed to sign Australian Driver [autotag]Oscar Piastri[/autotag] away from Alpine’s academy through a lengthy and widely publicized process, and now that the team has him, they’re making sure he isn’t going anywhere.

McLaren announced Wednesday that Piastri is extending his contact with the team, adding on three more years until 2026. The contract has him in papaya for one year longer than his teammate Lando Norris, who signed a three-year deal in 2022 to lock him down until 2025.

While McLaren’s car was a backmarker at the beginning of the season, upgrades have seen it become one of the faster challengers on the grid in the back half of the year — and Piastri is a big reason why. He’s had a slew of impressive results since the car upgrades, placing fourth at the British Grand Prix and standing on the podium at the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race by landing in second. Piastri also had a fantastic drive in the most recent race on the calendar, qualifying 17th and working his way all the way up to seventh to score points at the Singapore Grand Prix.

Here is what Piastri himself had to say about his extension in the team’s official social media announcement:

“The team [has] been amazing — you guys have been amazing at welcoming me into the papaya family, so I can’t wait to do it for another three years. We’ve really managed to turn this season around with the changes we’ve made to the car and the team [has] also been fundamental in helping me develop as a driver and a person.”

The contract renewal comes amid frequent links between Lando Norris and Red Bull, and while many will continue to speculate about Norris’ fate, McLaren made sure Wednesday that Piastri remains locked up for the foreseeable future.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3]

Piastri grateful for ‘huge advantage’ of stability from new McLaren deal

Oscar Piastri says stability at this point of his career is “a huge advantage” after signing a contract extension with McLaren through to the end of 2026. The Australian was already on a multi-year contract but his impressive performances in his …

Oscar Piastri says stability at this point of his career is “a huge advantage” after signing a contract extension with McLaren through to the end of 2026.

The Australian was already on a multi-year contract but his impressive performances in his rookie season have led to McLaren moving to secure his services for the three years after this one, with Lando Norris also committed for the next two. Piastri says the trust the team has in him has helped him settle and perform in 2023, and having continuity for the long term allows him the best chance to develop further.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I am thrilled to be extending my partnership with McLaren for many years,” Piastri said. “I want to be fighting it out at the front of the grid with this team and I am excited by the vision and foundations that are already being laid to get us there.

“The welcome that I have received and the relationships that I have built make this feel like home already. The team’s consistent commitment in me has made me feel incredibly valued and the desire from the team for me to be part of its long-term future made this an easy decision. To be wanted like that and for the team to show so much belief in me after just half a season, means a lot.

“Ever since the Abu Dhabi Young Driver Test last year, I feel a real part of all things papaya and my thanks go to everyone in and around the team, as well as all the fans. Stability is a huge advantage in this early part of my career and to have that with a brand as prestigious as McLaren gives me the opportunity to continue the work that we’ve started.

“We’ve enjoyed some good moments together in my rookie season, but I’m excited to work together with everyone at MTC over the coming years to create some great moments.”

Piastri has a best finish of fourth place so far this season — achieved at Silverstone — as well as a runner-up finish in the sprint at Spa, and is currently 11th in the drivers’ championship, five points behind ninth-placed Lance Stroll. All but five of his 42 points have come in the past six races.

McLaren extends Piastri contract through 2026

McLaren has announced a contract extension for Oscar Piastri that will keep the Australian with the team until at least the end of the 2026 season. Piastri has impressed in his rookie season, scoring 42 points so far including back-to-back top-five …

McLaren has announced a contract extension for Oscar Piastri that will keep the Australian with the team until at least the end of the 2026 season.

Piastri has impressed in his rookie season, scoring 42 points so far including back-to-back top-five finishes at Silverstone and Budapest. That was followed by second place in the sprint at Spa-Francorchamps, as McLaren’s resurgence following mid-season upgrades continued. While Piastri was already on a multi-year contract, this extension ties him in for the next three seasons, with team principal Andrea Stella saying the 22-year-old has shown his worth.

“It’s fantastic to confirm that Oscar has signed a multi-year extension with the team,” Stella said. “Oscar is an asset to McLaren and constantly impresses with his performance, work ethic and attitude, so it was an easy decision for the team to make.

“He has already proved pivotal to the team, so it’s brilliant to have his vote of confidence as we push to win championships again in the future. I look forward to seeing him develop with us as we continue this journey together.”

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

The announcement means McLaren has the pairing of Piastri and Lando Norris under contract for the next two years at least — with Norris currently tied in until 2025 — and Zak Brown says Piastri’s potential is what makes him such an exciting prospect.

“I’m delighted to be continuing our partnership with Oscar through to the end of 2026,” Brown added. “He’s an incredible talent and an asset to the team so it’s fantastic to be committing to each other in the long term.

“Oscar is already proving what he can do out on track and has been instrumental in the turnaround we’ve had so far this season. He’s fitted into the team brilliantly and is really valued by the whole McLaren Racing family. I’m excited to see how he continues to grow both on and off track.”

McLaren drivers ‘respect each other’ despite Monza clash

Lando Norris says there is a good level of respect between himself and Oscar Piastri after the pair made contact in the Italian Grand Prix. Piastri was emerging from the pits with Norris at full speed on the outside on the run to Turn 1, and tried …

Lando Norris says there is a good level of respect between himself and Oscar Piastri after the pair made contact in the Italian Grand Prix.

Piastri was emerging from the pits with Norris at full speed on the outside on the run to Turn 1, and tried to hold his position having been ahead of his teammate before the pit stops. But Norris was just ahead at the first chicane and Piastri made contact with the right rear of the lead McLaren, although both were able to continue unscathed as the stewards opted to take no further action.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I guess he was just on cold tires, had a little bit of understeer,” Norris said. “I tried to leave enough of a gap… It’s very difficult to see in the mirror. I left a good gap, but just hard and cold tires, it’s not a nice combination, and I guess he just ran into my rear tire.

“No (not ideal), but I think we respect each other, we give each other space, and fortunately nothing happened, so it’s all OK.”

Norris ended up eighth after a race spent behind Alex Albon throughout, and he says the end result doesn’t necessarily reflect the car’s performance, which he says is a clear improvement from McLaren’s struggles at Spa-Francorchamps.

“I think the pace was strong. It was just very difficult to overtake, as usual, but when we didn’t have to overtake, the pace was good. We could pressure Alex the whole race, but he did a very good job, so hats off to him and Williams, they were quick this weekend and managed to stay ahead.

“I think it was the best we could have done, so happy with that. Big thanks go to the team, both at track and at the factory, for reacting after Spa and giving us a more competitive package.”

Hamilton accepts responsibility for Piastri clash

Lewis Hamilton says he apologized to Oscar Piastri after the Italian Grand Prix for causing a collision that stopped the rookie from scoring points. The Mercedes driver was overtaking Piastri for eighth place on the run to the second chicane when he …

Lewis Hamilton says he apologized to Oscar Piastri after the Italian Grand Prix for causing a collision that stopped the rookie from scoring points.

The Mercedes driver was overtaking Piastri for eighth place on the run to the second chicane when he moved back towards the racing line under braking and clipped the front left wheel of the McLaren, damaging its front wing. Piastri had to make an extra pit stop and dropped out of the points, with Hamilton handed a five-second time penalty and taking full responsibility.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I apologized because it was obviously my fault,” Hamilton said. “And it naturally wasn’t intentional. I got up alongside and just misjudged the gap that I had to the right, clipped him and it could happen anytime. But I knew shortly afterwards, it must have been my fault. So, I wanted to make sure he knew that it wasn’t intentional. And that’s what gentlemen do, right?”

Piastri accepted the apology, saying he was satisfied with Hamilton’s reaction to the incident.

“Obviously not the afternoon we were looking for,” Piastri said. “I don’t think a whole lot went right, to be honest with you. The contact with Lewis was the biggest point. He apologized and the stewards gave out a penalty. I can’t ask for anything other than that. It’s cool.”

Hamilton still managed to negate the time penalty he received as he overtook Lando Norris and Alex Albon to run sixth, pulling over seven seconds clear of the Williams, even though he’d felt it would be a tall order to make his medium tires last to the end of the race after his pit stop.

“I definitely wasn’t upset. I was just supposed to go to lap 35 and the pace didn’t feel that great at that point,” he explained. “But they stopped me. The lap I pitted they said that I was going to target and then all of a sudden they boxed me. So, I was a little bit confused with that, that’s all.

“And then I was definitely concerned that I might not make it to the end. The gap was large between myself and the McLarens, I dropped back behind an Aston. So, I didn’t ,at that point, realize what my trajectory might be. But I took care of the tires, closed the gap and had that good battle.

“Races are pretty straightforward for me, so I’ve just got to do better in qualifying, so it’s not such a difficult day. And just living with the car that we have at the moment. (In Monza) it’s the third fastest car and it’s obviously painful for all of us. We wish we were quicker. But we’re just counting down the days to February.”

Sainz squarely blames Piastri for first lap incident in Belgium

Carlos Sainz says Oscar Piastri was “optimistic” with the move he was attempting on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix as both drivers ultimately retired due to contact. Piastri was on the inside of Sainz who had moved to overtake Lewis …

Carlos Sainz says Oscar Piastri was “optimistic” with the move he was attempting on the opening lap of the Belgian Grand Prix as both drivers ultimately retired due to contact.

Piastri was on the inside of Sainz who had moved to overtake Lewis Hamilton, and the three cars were squeezed at the first corner, leaving Piastri to make contact with both Sainz and the inside wall as the gap closed. Sainz limped on with heavy damage in the hope of a red flag until rain cleared and his car was retired, and the Ferrari driver suggests a lack of experience at Spa led to Piastri triggering the incident.

“I think I was on the attack with Lewis and pretty much had the move down into Turn 1, made the apex cleanly, but unfortunately Oscar was trying to do a bit of an optimistic move on me I think,” Sainz said.

“A bit of a shame because when you review the past races here in Spa and you know what has been a typical Turn 1 incident it’s exactly that — everyone who tries the inside line in Turn 1 and tries to make it around there normally generates an incident or a crash and this time it was my turn to receive.

“At some point someone needs to back out and it’s the guy who’s alongside my rear right I think who needs to back off, not me and let him pass me into Turn 1 — especially when I’m pretty much having my move done on Lewis.”

Piastri felt there was no clear blame on either side but pointed to Sainz moving late just before the braking zone as the catalyst eventually leading to the space running out when he could no longer react.

[lawrence-auto-related count=3 category=1388]

“I think it’s quite firmly in the category of a lap one, Turn 1 incident,” Piastri said. “I got a good start, got my nose alongside. When we got to the braking zone, Carlos moved to the right and locked up. I also had to try and avoid that a bit, and then from there to the apex my options were quite limited in where I can go.

“I’ll look back over it and see if there’s more I could have done but it’s a shame we’re standing here and not on track.

“I think looking back on it, we both could have done things a bit differently … It’s a very tight Turn 1. Carlos also didn’t have many options from where Lewis was either. A shame…”

While Sainz wanted Piastri to back out of the move, the Australian rookie says there wasn’t enough time or space for him to do so that close to the corner.

“I think, from Carlos’ point of view, the move to the right surprised me a bit. From there I was quite limited. Maybe I could have [braked] later and been more alongside, but it’s very easy to say that with hindsight. I think once I was in that position it was quite hard to go forward or go backwards and I was kind of stuck; I tried to do the best I could from that position.”

The collision left Piastri crawling through Eau Rouge at low speed and he admits it was a nerve-wracking moment that he had to deal with.

“I think I had a left front puncture, think the right front was broken as well, going up Eau Rouge with about 180 degrees of front lock and still going straight… So something was clearly broken.

“It wasn’t fun, that’s for sure. I think I was quite lucky that everyone got around me before Eau Rouge. Then, the way the steering was, I kind of managed to get to the left side of the track before the bottom of Eau Rouge, so from that point it was OK, but it’s not very fun going around a slightly curved straight when you couldn’t steer.”