Piastri falls to third: “I wasn’t going to give up without a fight”

Oscar Piastri says he’ll “live and learn” after losing the lead of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at the second corner, conceding that McLaren’s pace fell short of expectations as his consecutive winning streak ended with a drop from Pole to third in Imola.

Only third place rewarded Piastri’s efforts in a race that started with so much hope, with the outcome of the 63-lap challenge allowing both Lando Norris and Max Verstappen to shrink the Australian’s championship lead after the first European showing. 

Piastri ended the day clouded by “slight disappointment”, with the result an unfavourable one despite crossing the line in the final podium position.

“It’s never a great day when you start first and finish third, so yeah, just not a great day,” Piastri said.

“I think Turn 1 was not ideal. I think in the end, our stop timing wasn’t… I think the race panned out differently to how we expected at the start of the first stint. 

“So then the timing of the VSC and the safety car, the race was very tough from very early on.

“Honestly, given people had fresher tyres at the end, hanging on to a podium is not a bad result. 

“And you’re going have tough days in the championship, and this is clearly one of them. 

“So as long as we learn the lessons, then that’s all I can ask.”

Lining up from Pole, the Australian commanded the 553-metre run to the first braking zone after initially getting the better jump off the line, however, Max Verstappen’s undying commitment through Turn 2 saw the lead stripped from Piastri’s hands without a fight.

“I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max,” the #81 conceded.

“So, yeah, I’ll learn for next time clearly, but at that point, I wasn’t overly concerned to not be in the lead, but then our pace just wasn’t as strong as I expected. 

“So, that compounded that first corner.”

Piastri trailed Verstappen by two seconds after 10 laps of racing, with his rapidly degrading medium compound tyres leaving him with no choice but to pit on Lap 13 — a decision made by the McLaren pit wall that ultimately left Piastri feeling as if the team “reacted a bit too quickly”.

After a subpar 3.6-second stop, he rejoined the race in P12 and was crucially running ahead of the recovering Charles Leclerc as he began his charge back through the field.

With Verstappen controlling the race in the lead, Red Bull jumped on the radio to deploy Yuki Tsunoda as a road clock for Piastri, however, as the McLaren driver neared the #22, fresh tyres and DRS assistance were no match for Tsunoda’s defensive efforts.

The Australian cruised ahead into Turn 2, picking off the less defensive likes of Ollie Bearman, Franco Colapinto and Nico Hulkenberg within a matter of laps and inheriting his way back into the top three after the ulterior strategy-running drivers ahead had completed their first pitstops. 

On Lap 29, a Virtual Safety Car neutralised the race, but ignited a flurry of action in the pitlane — action that Piastri joined one lap later as he pulled into the pitlane for his second stop of the race, emerging in P4 behind Alex Albon. 

When the race got back underway, the #81 put his foot to the floor as he dashed to the rear of the Williams car ahead until he was finally within DRS range. 

Engaging the Drag Reduction System, Piastri completed a simple move into Tamburello, disposing of Albon as he reinstated his place within the top three. 

His teammate was the next car down the road, with Piastri setting his fastest lap of the race as he hunted Norris, who was tracking 13 seconds up the road, before a full Safety Car destroyed his progress. 

During the Lap 46 Safety Car, both Verstappen and Norris capitalised on the reduced pit loss, arming themselves with far fresher tyres for the restart, while Piastri sat vulnerable in P2, running on 15-lap older C5s. 

“Obviously, the VSC was perfectly timed for Max and Lando,” he said. 

“I’d obviously used both my hard tyres at that point, so it made the last restart pretty tricky.”

Piastri added: “I tried my best to hang on, but just didn’t have the grip.” 

“I think it was inevitable that he was going to get past, but I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.”

As the track went green, Verstappen launched clear into the distance, leaving the Australian without DRS defence from the outset of the 10-lap sprint to the line.

It was only a matter of time before the inevitable overtake was cemented by Norris, with the #4 coming within half a second of Piastri with five laps remaining before stealing second place from his teammate into Tamburello. 

The Australian feared further demotion from a fast-charging Lewis Hamilton behind, however, he crossed the line with an uncomfortable, but large enough margin of 1.4 seconds to the Ferrari driver. 

The drop from Pole to third meant Piastri lost out to both of his championship rivals, who ultimately outscored the Australian in Imola. 

Piastri sits on 146 points after his adopted ‘home race’, with his championship lead over Norris shrinking to 13 points, while Verstappen trails by 22 points.

The quick turnaround between the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and the second race of the European triple header means Piastri will have to brush aside his disappointment quickly, with the millimetre-perfect demands of the Monaco Grand Prix requiring full concentration from Friday onwards.

Although the unforgiving street circuit sits as a daunting challenge for many drivers on the grid, the Australian is no stranger to success in the Principality, joining hometown hero Charles Leclerc on the iconic podium last year after finishing with an impressive second-place result.

“It’s a circuit I enjoy,” Piastri said, reflecting on his triumph 12 months ago. 

“Last year was a really good weekend for me, so hopefully we can go one better this year. 

“That would be nice, but it’s going to be interesting to see how these — well, it’s the same tyres as this weekend — but how they perform in a very different environment like Monaco. 

“And then obviously a two-stop race, so yeah, let’s see, but I think confident that we’ll be quick and try and go again.”

The first practice session of the weekend will kick off at 21:30 AEST on Friday, May 23. 

Image: Lars Baron/LAT Images // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool.

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