Championship leader, Oscar Piastri, admitted “slight disappointment” after starting on pole and ending P3 at the Imola GP.
Piastri started the race on pole position after a messy qualifying session, and lost first place after Max Verstappen broke early into Tamburello to take the lead.
The Australian had to climb back up to P3 after attempting an undercut. The 24-year-old was able to finish at the podium after the race, but it came with a fight.
When asked about his feelings during the Post-Race Press Conference, Piastri said, “I think, obviously, slight disappointment, probably. It’s never a great day when you start first and finish third. So, yeah, just not a great day.”
“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.”
The Australian continued, “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.”
Turn 1 surprise
Piastri effectively lost the lead after Turn 1 when Verstappen surprised the 24-year-old to take the race lead at the Imola GP. The Reigning World Champion had his move around the inside at Tamburello. The Australian thought he had the lead “pretty under control”, but Verstappen had the edge.
Piastri told the media “I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max. 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.”
When asked about if the Australian can do anything differently, he answered, “Yes. I definitely would have done something different. I would have braked ten metres later probably. Yeah. That’s all. Live and learn.”
Strategy conundrum
After finishing on the podium after a two-stop strategy, Piastri noted that everyone, including him, were “struggling” with their tyres and strategy during the Imola GP.
“Not clear, but I think a lot of people around were struggling. I was starting to struggle a bit. We kind of discussed it a bit, I guess, but it’s something we still need to go through more clearly. Because I think, yeah, maybe we reacted a bit too quickly. But, we’ll have a look.”
Looking ahead to Monaco
After this “disappointing” race, Piastri looks ahead to F1’s Crown Jewel, The Monaco GP. After finishing P2 last year, he hoped he can do “better this year.”
“It’s a circuit I enjoy. 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.”
