Piastri one step away from the podium: “The pace was higher than we expected”

Close to the podium The Austrian Grand Prix did not see McLaren fighting for victory during the 71 laps held on the Red Bull Ring circuit, but the Woking team still came close to winning the podium. The Australian Oscar Piastri managed to do so, with a 4th place finish, doing well in managing the tires as best as possible under the scorching Spielberg sun together with the good strategy implemented by the team. Not all positive Elements that led the 25-year-old to move up from 7th place on the starting grid, i.e. from a fourth row that had generated some disappointment at McLaren: “I’m really happy with today’s performance – commented Piastri after getting out of the car – it was a good race, we managed to do well and apply some things that I’ve learned in recent weeks. The pace was higher than we expected, and being able to challenge and beat Ferrari is certainly a positive aspect for the team. I think that we got the most out of the car, and it’s a good feeling. However, we still need to find more pace if we want to be consistently fighting for the top three; we just need overall performance and more grip to take the next step. Further Norris If the race ended positively for Piastri, the same was not true for the reigning world champion Lando Norris. After losing position at the start to his teammate, the Briton was then unable to defend himself from the returning Red Bull of Hadjar, only to then overtake Leclerc’s Ferrari and complete the overtaking. In this way, while waiting for his home GP at Silverstone, Norris closed the Austrian weekend in seventh position: “Overall, today was still a good result for the team, especially for finishing ahead of one of the Ferraris. It was a difficult day for everyone, due to the extreme temperatures. We lost crucial positions on the track on the first lap and again during the pit stop, an important factor for today’s race. Once you lose that ground, it is incredibly difficult to regain it, so it was an unfortunate outcome for us, but the team remained focused and did a good job to maximize the possibilities for the rest of the race. We haven’t made updates like other teams and the car is still behind the leaders in terms of performance, but we know we need more time to improve we will analyze everything together as a team before going to Silverstone, where I am excited for the home crowd. We are making progress and if we get the first lap and pit stop sequence right, we will have a better chance next time.

Automobile Magazine – Formula1 English, News

2026-06-29 11:00:00