Oscar Piastri proved to be a cool head and impressive talent in a chaotic race. With his aforementioned stellar performance, Heath gained the championship lead for the first time in his growing career. The 24-year-old McLaren driver executed a daring maneuver, overtaking Lewis Hamilton on the high-speed approach to Turns 22 and 23. His dazzling performance proved enough to win him the most valuable player award. The result, unsurprisingly, left him sitting pretty atop the Formula 1 drivers’ championship.
The race started with Max Verstappen pacesetting, followed closely by Piastri. Verstappen and Perez dominated the race until the first round of stops. He maintained his lead but was penalized for cutting the chicane at the start. This penalty ended up costing him big time, as Piastri assumed control after both drivers completed their pit stops. Piastri was the first of the leaders to make his pit stop on lap 19, with Verstappen still building up a nice lead before the stop.
Even with the clear air advantage of pitting before Verstappen, Piastri could not pull enough of a gap to Verstappen. When he made that move, he took command of the race from there on out. What really came to the forefront were his abilities to perform under pressure and conduct tactical driving.
Verstappen’s performance was remarkable not just for how competitive he was, but for his incendiary post-race behavior as well. The reigning world champion shared his exasperation about the treatment drivers get, arguing that criticism is not needed.
“You can’t share your opinion because it’s not appreciated apparently, or people can’t handle the full truth. Honestly, it’s better if I don’t say too much.” – Max Verstappen
Piastri cap-tured his third-straight victory in five grand prix races this year. This momentous achievement cements his reputation in the sport as a rising star in the ranks of Formula 1. That was quick to change, as Verstappen recognized Piastri’s obvious talent on the racetrack, commending his cool head and steady racecraft.
“He’s very solid. He’s very calm in his approach, and I like that. It shows on track. He delivers when he has to, barely makes mistakes – and that’s what you need when you want to fight for a championship.” – Max Verstappen
Lando Norris, Piastri’s teammate at McLaren, commended Piastri’s performance. He pointed out that in having a teammate like Mark Webber, Piastri is learning from good counsel, advice and mentorship.
“With Mark by his side, he’s helping him a lot. It’s great. People learn from their own careers. That’s what I had with my dad, and Mark is advising Oscar. At the end of the day, Oscar is using his talent, and that’s great to see.” – Max Verstappen
The drama of that race with an exciting finish—especially the key moments when Piastri squeezed past Hamilton, and then eventually Verstappen—will be hard to top. It’s almost impressive how quickly the stewards stepped in after Verstappen’s borderline dangerous actions at the start. Their intervention was likely key in deciding that race’s outcome.
“The stewards had to get involved, but I thought I was plenty far enough up (alongside) and in the end that’s what got me the race.” – Oscar Piastri
Telling a good story about what went through his head at the key moment of the race, Piastri described how he came up on the corner next to Verstappen. He even animated a late-braking maneuver as a successful overtaking move.
“I knew that I had enough of my car alongside to take the corner. We obviously both braked extremely late. For me, I braked as late as I could while staying on the track. And I think how it unfolded is how it should have been dealt with.” – Oscar Piastri
As Piastri partied, Norris was left to muse over his own race-winning hopes that had faded away. He admitted that of course he has speed, but at times he loses the consistency to withstand a whole qualifying session.
“I have been very confident in my race; it’s my qualifying, my Saturdays, which are not good enough at the minute.” – Lando Norris
Norris pinpointed his mistakes down to overdriving and taking silly risks during qualifying laps. He says he wants to take a slower approach in the future.
“That’s because I am struggling a little bit with the car. Yesterday was not the car; it was just me trying to take too many risks. So I just have to peg it back. I’ve got the pace. It’s all in there.” – Lando Norris
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