First start and first podium of the season
The nightmare of races not started has finally ended for Oscar Piastri, author of a third position in qualifying for the Japanese Grand Prix that had given the McLaren Australian high hopes for Sunday. And indeed, in addition to managing to start regularly (unlike what happened in Australia and China), #81 did not only see the checkered flag, but passed under it in 2nd place, further improving Saturday’s performance and above all giving the first podium of the season to the Woking team.
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Hopes of victory dashed
In the first phase of the race, taking advantage of a poor start by Antonelli, Piastri had even managed to take the lead, resisting Russell’s pressure in the following laps and pulling away from the Mercedes Briton. Remaining in the lead of the GP, the Australian pitted on the 18th lap for a tire change, only to find himself once again ahead of Russell after the latter’s pit stop. A race that therefore seemed favorable to the 24-year-old, at least until the bad accident of Oliver Bearman which caused the inevitable entry of the Safety Car, a fact that allowed Antonelli to make a pit stop while leading the standings and return to the track ahead of Piastri.
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An unfortunate episode that thus dashed any hope of victory for the Australian, who nevertheless remains satisfied with the progress made by the team while waiting for the return to the track in Miami at the beginning of May: “We do well when we start! A good result today, it would have been really interesting to see what would have happened without the Safety Car. I managed to keep George behind and just before the pit stops we were even gaining a bit of an advantage. It’s a shame we couldn’t see what would have happened. But I believe that, at this point, being disappointed with second place is a good result for us. A huge thank you to the team. I think we did a great job with what we had available. Clearly we still need to improve performance a bit, but today we took advantage of every opportunity.”
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