Oscar Piastri reflects on the ‘challenging’ sprint race in São Paulo. The Australian eventually crossed the finish line of the shortened race in second place, after McLaren instructed its two drivers to swap positions. Piastri is pleased that his team managed to score many points, and believes that the MCL38 is also in good shape for the rest of the Brazilian race weekend.
The Australian immediately closed the door on his teammate at the start of the shortened race, maintaining the lead. However, this changed in lap 22 when Max Verstappen in P3 came very close to Norris. McLaren decided to have the two drivers switch positions, causing Piastri to drop back to P2. The driver then successfully held off Verstappen, and Norris took the victory.
“It was a bit tricky, to be honest,” Piastri summarizes his sprint race. “The racing line was very thin, and if you missed it by just a tyre’s width, you were in trouble.” Yet, the Melbourne native is more than satisfied with the result. “It was a great day for the team. Lots of points. We learned a lot for tomorrow’s race.”
Verstappen’s Speed
At the start of the sprint race, the two McLarens were already under pressure from the approaching Ferrari of Charles Leclerc, while towards the end Max Verstappen came very close. Nevertheless, Piastri rates his chances for the rest of the weekend quite well. “Yes, quite optimistic,” the Australian continues his analysis. “The pace looked okay. The Ferrari was very fast at the start of the race, while Max was very fast at the end. We’ll see. There are some things we want to improve, but I think we’re in good shape.
