Oscar Piastri revealed his side of the story following his first lap incident with Carlos Sainz at the 2023 Belgian Grand Prix, that saw him retire on the spot.
Up to that point, Piastri was having a superb weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, faster than teammate Lando Norris all weekend, outqualifying him for the Grand Prix and faster in the Sprint Shootout, where he was second fastest behind Max Verstappen.
He led the Sprint Race briefly before Verstappen restored the order, and ultimately finished second behind the reigning Formula 1 Champion, and big things were expected of him in the race on Sunday.
However an overoptimistic move from him tucking in behind Sainz at Turn 1, combined with as sudden move to the right from the latter meant contact was inevitable between the two, and while Sainz went on to race up to lap 23, Piastri was out on the spot with a damaged steering.
While Sainz blamed Piastri, the stewards rightly called it a racing incident and took to action, as in fact both drivers need to be more smart and calculate the risk before making such moves, and while Piastri is still a rookie and could be excused for such errors, Sainz should’ve known better given his experience.
A disappointing end to the weekend after many positives
Piastri gave his side of the story, he told Sky Sports F1: “I had a good launch and got to Carlos’ back wheel. He jinked quite hard to the right, locked up and I had to take a bit of avoidance from that and then by that point I was kind of still there and with how I had to get out of the brakes it was quite hard to back out of it fully.
“I either had to stay where I was or try and commit more and get further alongside. It’s always tight into Turn 1 like that, just disappointing to end at the first corner.
“I’ve seen the video, it’s difficult,” the McLaren rookie added. “Carlos didn’t have much space on his outside but I also didn’t really get given that many options.
“It’s a tricky one. I’m sure we’ll see if I could have done a few things differently. Just a shame to be out so early,” the Australian maintained.
In McLaren’s race report, Piastri said: “A disappointing end to the weekend. I had my nose in there at Turn One and got a bit caught out with Carlos darting to the inside. My nose was in there, I couldn’t get out of that one, so a shame to have my race over so early.
“It’s still been a positive weekend though and all in all, I think we’ve had some good learning on track so we can still be confident for the rest of the year,” Piastri concluded.
Still thinking about @OscarPiastri leading his first laps in @F1. ??#BelgianGP ?? pic.twitter.com/UvyjBnifM8
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) July 31, 2023
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