Piastri ready to challenge for wins despite ‘boring’ race
Oscar Piastri found it “basically impossible” to overtake around Imola on his way to a solid fourth place, but is confident of challenging for victory very soon.
For the third time in 2024, Piastri came home fourth with the latest instance the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
The Aussie was outstanding in qualifying, setting the second fastest time only behind Max Verstappen by a slender 0.074s.
However, due to impeding Kevin Magnussen, Piastri was forced to start fifth due to a penalty which put him on the back foot for the 63-lap race.
After a number of close calls on track, McLaren was able to get the #81 to jump Carlos Sainz via strategy, performing a four-lap undercut.
Despite getting close to Charles Leclerc, Piastri had to settle for fourth in a strong, but quiet race.
“Very tough. It was basically impossible to overtake today,” Piastri said.
“I tried my best, I had like 20 laps behind Carlos trying to get past and just could never get close enough.
“I don’t know what the rest of the race was like but it was pretty boring for me.
“Unfortunately it was a consequence of where we started.
“I think that was the most we could have done today which is a bit of a shame considering how much pace we’ve had this weekend but that is how it goes sometimes.”
Although luck has been against him with a poorly timed Safety Car and clash with Sainz in Miami and grid penalty in Imola, Piastri believes the last two weekends have been some of his best.
“I think for me the last two weekends have been really good as a team obviously but I think personally they’ve been very strong as well. I think probably two of my better weekends in F1,” he said.
“I’ve been happy with how I’ve been performing, obviously Miami we know what happened there and here, obviously the penalty has not helped today.
“I think for me I did the most that I could in my control and I can be happy with that of course.
“I want to be getting some better results for that but I’m sure if I keep doing the right things then that time will come.”
Looking ahead, the recent results and speed of the upgraded MCL38 have left the Australian extremely optimistic for the future.
Piastri genuinely believes he and McLaren will be consistently fighting for victories as Monaco awaits.
“Im feeling confident and very happy,” he said
“The team is giving us plenty of opportunities now to score podiums and wins.
“Last year it was podiums but wins were still a bit further out of grasp.
“Now it’s pretty exciting to be genuinely able to say we can fight for wins.
“I think some of the conditions we’ve faced in the last two weekends were stuff of our nightmares less than 12 months ago and now have probably been our two strongest races in my time at the team.
“Personally I think we can be confident wherever we go, which is a very exciting position to be in.
“Of course, we’ve got very stiff competition in Red Bull and Ferrari but we’re well and truly in the mix and I think we can definitely take the fight to them.”
Photo by Sam Bloxham / LAT Images
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