After the Belgian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was as shocked as anyone to find himself sitting alone in the cool-down area without Max Verstappen.
Verstappen faced an uphill task as he started the race 11th on the grid due to an engine penalty, but his record at Spa-Francorchamps and the fact that he outqualified everyone else by more than 0.5 seconds on Saturday assured everyone he would be battling for the win nevertheless.
However, that was untrue. He managed to get around some of the traffic to finish fourth on the road, which meant he wasn’t in the cool-down room—which is reserved for people who are waiting to participate in the podium ceremony—after original winner George Russell was disqualified.
Piastri and Lewis Hamilton were the only people there at first, as Russell continued to celebrate with his Mercedes coworkers. And the driver for McLaren initiated the conversation while the seven-time champion wiped his face with a towel.
Max Verstappen’s five-word remark captures the essence of Red Bull’s largest issue.
George Russell’s disqualification from the Belgian Grand Prix is summed perfectly by Lewis Hamilton’s remarks.
“I thought Max was going to be a bit quicker than that,” the man remarked. In response, Hamilton asked Verstappen where he had placed in the race. Russell then entered the room and made a remark akin to Piastri’s: “Surprised the Red Bulls didn’t come through more.”
Following his first-ever victory in Budapest one week prior, Piastri’s season saw a solid conclusion with another podium. In his second season on the grid, the 23-year-old has really come into his own, giving his competitors and teammate Lando Norris a serious challenge.
And when he picked up his award, he expressed his satisfaction with his own development. “Undoubtedly, the last few weeks have been quite powerful from my side,” Piastri stated. Sincerely, I believe the season has been excellent throughout.
Oscar Piastri has had a great season so far, and he has another podium.
Oscar Piastri has achieved another podium in a successful season thus far (Photo: Getty Images).)
“There were a few challenging weekends in the midst of the year. The main ones were China and Japan, and, of course, Barcelona. However, I think every other race has been really strong. In other words, there have been a number of things that haven’t gone our way.
“There have always kind of been simply stuff, whether it’s odd track limit penalties, collisions, or mistakes, and I feel like I have been able to clean it up the last few weeks.” Therefore, I firmly believe that I have advanced from the previous year.
“I believe that in these difficult races like this one, I had trouble in a similar race the previous year. In addition to the fact that the car is obviously incredibly swift, I think I’ve made good progress. Thus, it’s fantastic that I seem to be picking up some nice momentum. I feel like I’m in a strong spot, but I just keep trying to improve on it.”
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