'A lot to go through': Piastri flies, then fades to fifth
Monday, 24 July 2023
Oscar Piastri spent the first stint of Sunday's race in Budapest in second place, but fell to fifth on a day of learning in the Hungary heat.
Oscar Piastri saw Sunday's fifth-place finish at the Hungarian Grand Prix as a result to learn from rather than lament after the Australian plummeted down the order after a brilliant opening stint to the race that saw him spend the opening 18 laps in second position.
The McLaren rookie qualified in a strong fourth place after finishing in the same position at Silverstone one race earlier and looked set for a maiden F1® podium after he made a brilliant start, slotting in behind reigning world champion Max Verstappen (Red Bull Racing) on the opening lap after passing teammate Lando Norris and pole-sitter Lewis Hamilton (Mercedes).
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With Verstappen quickly clearing off at the front of the field, Piastri looked assured in second place until his race began to unravel after Norris pitted from third on lap 17, undercutting past Piastri when the Australian pitted a lap later, discarding his starting medium tyres for hard Pirelli rubber.
While Norris was able to make use of his track position and fresh tyres, Piastri was on his back foot thereafter, admitting he had a lot still to learn as he finished 62 seconds behind race-winner Verstappen and 29 seconds behind Norris after 70 laps, the British driver taking his second consecutive podium finish.
"First stint was good, the second and third stints were pretty average," Piastri said afterwards after being passed by Red Bull's Sergio Perez (who started ninth) and re-passed by Hamilton at Turn 1 with 13 laps remaining.
"I struggled a lot with the tyres, so something to review. I feel like I did a lot of good work in the first stint, but just really struggled the next two."
McLaren confirmed after the race that Piastri had sustained some damage to the floor of his MCL60 in the second stint of the Grand Prix.
"I'm happy to hang on to P5 … at one point I thought we were going to be even further back than that. We'll have a look at what I could have done better – obviously the car is capable of more, so have a look at what I can do better to protect the tyres and learn. I want to be able to do a better job than that."
Piastri brushed off being put on what was, at the time, an unfavourable strategy to Norris at their first pit stops, pointing to the gap between the pair at the end of the race.
"It wasn't ideal to come out behind Lando, but when you finish 30 seconds behind him, it clearly didn't make much difference," he said.
"Lando has proven – not so much myself – even when it's very hot like this that we can still stay at the front. Overall, still a good day for the team … a good weekend for myself, but just a lot to go through and adjust and learn from."
Piastri retained 11th place in the world championship standings with 27 points, 22 of which have come in the past two Grands Prix.
McLaren has moved well clear of Alpine for fifth place in the constructors' championship race, outscoring the French team 58-0 across the British and Hungarian Grands Prix after Alpine drivers Pierre Gasly and Esteban Ocon were both out with accident damage after two laps in Budapest.
Oscar's Hungarian Grand Prix by the numbers
- Qualified: 4th
- Race: 5th
- Pit stops/tyres: Lap 18 (medium/hard), Lap 42 (hard/medium)
- Fastest lap: 1min 22.736secs (8th), lap 45
- Points this event: 10
- Points this season: 27 (11th in world championship)
