Piastri labels Chinese GP victory the “most satisfying” of his career

Oscar Piastri has declared his undeniable victory at the Chinese Grand Prix as the “most satisfying” of his career, maintaining the “cliché” mindset of taking his title campaign “one weekend at a time”.

The title fight Is well and truly on after Piastri managed to dominate on Sunday in Shanghai, charging to the top step of the podium for the first time this season after taking his maiden Pole in Formula 1 just 24 hours earlier. 

“Very satisfying,” Piastri said. 

“Obviously, I think, you know, it’s always a pretty good day when you cross the line first, that’s obvious. 

“But I think for me this has been the most satisfying, not just race, but weekend for myself.

“You know, I think the two wins I had previously were very different, and I think this one’s been the most complete. 

“So I’m very, very happy with the whole effort of the whole team this weekend. 

“I think we started with a car that was quick, but pretty tricky at times, and I think we did a good job of trying to tackle that. 

“And to come away with this result is a perfect end to the weekend.”

With the hopes of the nation resting on his shoulders after a nightmare end to his Australian Grand Prix campaign, the entire country cheered Piastri on as the five lights went out in Shanghai.

The extra push from the fans was definitely needed when it looked as if second-place starter George Russell had initially gotten the better jump off the line, however, as the field arrived at the first turn, Piastri was in the clear.

With Russell and Lando Norris tussling for position behind, the Australian held onto the lead, working to build an instant gap over the battle for second.

That gap held strong over the course of the entire race, despite Norris showing a momentary glimpse of victory-challenging pace within DRS range of the Australian, with his flexible one-stop strategy handing Piastri his third career victory after 56 laps of racing.

“I was very happy to come through Turn 1 in the lead. I would have been pretty annoyed if I wasn’t,” he said.

“So that was pretty crucial for the first part of the race, especially given that we didn’t really know if it was going to be a one- or a two-stop at that point. 

“And how critical being able to dictate the pace looked yesterday in the Sprint—I was obviously happy to keep the lead. 

“I think this weekend’s been maybe less emotional than the first two wins I’ve had, but definitely more satisfying. 

“I think it’s been a weekend where I’ve been quite comfortable, been confident in what I needed to do and how I’ve been driving. 

“And I think the race today was… I still had to push and keep my foot on the gas, because the gap, apart from the last few laps, was never that big behind. 

“So I always had to keep on my toes, but I feel like I just managed the race well when I needed to, and pushed when I needed to.”

Following his pitstop on Lap 15, Piastri emerged from the pitlane to instantly engage in battle with Lance Stroll, picking the Aston Martin off for P4 before later overtaking Alex Albon to regain the lead.

Confident in his tyres, the Australian agreed to extend his stint on the hard tyre until the very end, and with his teammate struggling with a “critical” brake issue in the closing stages of the Chinese Grand Prix, Piastri’s first victory of the season was never in doubt. 

The #81 said he noticed the possibility of a one-stop strategy becoming apparent after around 10-15 laps on the hard compound tyre. 

“You know, I think already on the Medium it was easier than in the Sprint, but I think the Hard behaved much better than we all expected,” he added.

“I think George [Russell] might have a different answer on that, but certainly for me, I went into it thinking it would be a two-stop and then even early in the race I still thought that, and was pleasantly surprised that the Hard was as strong as it was.”

He took the chequered flag 9.7 seconds ahead of Lando Norris, adding 25 points to his championship campaign in a complete turnaround of fate from his home Grand Prix tragedy.

Heading into Suzuka as the obvious favourites, the young Australian said this weekend’s outing has given him “a lot” of confidence moving forward.

“I think we’ve obviously had a quick car this weekend, but like I said, it’s not been as straightforward as it was in Melbourne. 

“And I think, you know, to still have this result here is a really encouraging sign for us.

“I think there’s still going to be bumps along the road and things we can try and work on, but ultimately I think we’re in a pretty happy place at the moment and, yeah, excited for the rest of the year.”

The Australian comes away from what he jokingly calls his ‘1/16th home race’ in fourth in the WDC standings with 34 points to his name. 

Lando Norris leads the championship, holding onto the top spot after following Piastri home in China to earn McLaren a 50th 1-2 finish in its Formula 1 history. 

Questioned on whether it was too early to start thinking about the title fight, the Australian made clear he’d be focusing on maximising every opportunity along the way.

“I think it’s very, very early, clearly. But I think no matter how short or long the championship is, you need to maximise the car that you have every race,” Piastri explained. 

“I think we saw last year that Verstappen was able to win the championship by capitalising on the car he had in the first part of the year. 

“And he obviously did a good job through the rest of the year as well, but he built the gap when he had the ability to build the gap. 

“And I think that’s an important thing at the moment as well, because you never know when someone’s going to find some speed with an upgrade or find something in how they operate the car. 

“There are pretty fine margins out there. So yeah, I think you obviously want to capitalise whenever you can, but I’m certainly not thinking about the championship yet. 

“As much of a cliché as it is, it’s a cliché for a reason, and I’m focusing on one weekend at a time because ultimately that is how you win a championship: by getting the most out of every weekend.”

Returning to a conventional weekend format, the Japanese Grand Prix will run across April 4-6, with FP1 kicking off at 13:30 AEDT on the Friday. 

Image: McLaren

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