“I don’t think [the win] changes the world for me,” Piastri admits

Oscar Piastri says he is an unchanged man despite claiming his maiden Grand Prix victory less than seven days ago, already having moved on from the tense “situation” McLaren was “inexperienced at handling” in Budapest.

Arriving in Belgium unsatisfied with the team’s lack of perfection, Piastri hopes to improve with the aid of race-winning momentum for Round 14 at his favourite circuit on the calendar.

His previous outing at the Hungarian Grand Prix fulfilled one of Piastri’s childhood dreams, etching the boy from Brighton onto the winners’ list as the 115th Grand Prix winner in Formula 1 history.

This weekend, however, Piastri is seeking to surpass his maiden efforts, with a focus on avoiding a repeat of the controversy that clouded his success.

“Yes, I think it has [sunken in], I mean it’s certainly sunken in more than it had immediately post-race, but I don’t think it changes the world for me,” Piastri said.

“I mean, it’s nice to have that achievement, but my way of working and trying to improve myself is going to be exactly the same. 

“So, nice to have that achievement, nice to have that… you know, the first one, and I think for the whole team, an incredible weekend scoring the most amount of points that we could.

“But it doesn’t change much apart from that.

“Just trying to repeat that every weekend and keep growing.

“I know that I’ve won a race, but it doesn’t mean that it was a perfect race, so until I have perfect races, I’m never going to be fully satisfied.”

McLaren learnt a lot from their unconventional strategy in Hungary which saw Lando Norris handed the undercut on his race-leading teammate.

The gifted overtake led to a tense final 20 laps in which Norris was hesitant to give the position back to Piastri, however, adhering to the gentle threats from the papaya pit wall with three laps remaining.

Despite having an awkward post-race debrief to navigate after McLaren put both of their drivers in uncomfortable situations during the race, Piastri insists “the feeling in the team is still incredible”, with the teammates even playing a friendly game of Monopoly on the flight home from Budapest.

“I think, reflecting back on a 1-2 and just a dominant weekend, which is the first time we’ve been able to say that as McLaren for a very long time, the feeling is very strong,” Piastri said.

“I’ve spoken with Lando and Andrea (Stella) – played Monopoly with Lando on the way back! 

“So, we’re all good.

“And, yeah, I mean, of course, it’s a difficult situation to be in from a lot of sides.

“I think the team wanted to really make sure we locked down a 1-2, and I think, at the time, it was a very sensible call (to pit Lando first).

“Of course, it swapped the order around and I completely get why Lando wanted to ask so many questions about swapping back.

“He’s leading a race and we all want to win, so I get it from both sides.

“But, yeah, just a new situation that we were maybe a bit inexperienced at handling.

“I think we’ve definitely spoken about it and we’re all good.”

During Piastri’s first F1 outing at Spa in 2023, the Australian had a mixed bag of highs and lows. 

Running as a Sprint Weekend, Piastri worked to maximise his points early on, qualifying and finishing the Sprint in P2 behind Max Verstappen.

In the main event, however, Piastri was forced to retire from the Grand Prix after making opening lap contact with Carlos Sainz, ending his weekend prematurely.

This weekend, the #81 arrives at Spa-Francorchamps raring to go, looking to outdo his maiden victory come Sunday afternoon after declaring McLaren a “genuine chance” in the constructors’ championship battle with Red Bull.

“The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps is my favourite track, so I’m excited to return to Belgium,” the Hungarian Grand Prix race winner said.

“It’s always tricky to predict what it will be like for us, but we’re in a strong position and we look to come away with another good set of points. 

“It’s been a great first half of the season, so we’ll take the momentum into this weekend and see what we can do.”

On-track action at the Belgian Grand Prix will kick off tonight at 9:30 PM, with FP1 closely followed by FP2 at 1:00 AM, Saturday morning (AEST).

Image: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images

2024 Belgian Grand Prix Schedule:

Friday, July 26th:

FP1: 21:30 – 22:30

Saturday, July 27th:

FP2: 01:00 – 02:00

FP3: 20:30 – 21:30

Sunday, July 28th:

Qualifying: 00:00 – 01:00

Race Start: 23:00

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