McLaren driver Oscar Piastri was feeling “mixed” after a podium finish at the Hungarian GP, with a final laps battle for the win.
Piastri started and finished the Hungarian GP in second. However, the Australian driver was dejected after not being able to take the win against Norris. The Papaya battle for the win started on Lap 64. Even though Piastri was in DRS range for most of the battle, Norris got ahead for the win. When asked about his finish in the Post Race Press Conference, Piastri answered, “Mixed, I would say.”
Piastri continued, “You know, whenever you lose a race by such a little amount, it’s obviously a bit painful, but I mean, I’m sure it was entertaining from the outside. It was entertaining from the inside as well. So, you know, pretty fun race, all things considered. But, obviously, when you’re on the losing side of that battle, it’s a little bit difficult.”
The Championship Leader relieved to get away from pole sitter Charles Leclerc, but knows that his strategy could have improved.
“But, yeah, we tried our best, I think, and, you know, we got ahead of Charles. I don’t know what happened to him in the last stint, but, yeah, some things to look back on, whether we should have done something a bit different in terms of strategy, but very easy to say in hindsight.“
Lock up mid-battle
During the final laps battle, Piastri locked up at Lap 69 possibly ending the fight for the win. However, Piastri was able to close the gap again. When asked about if the lock up prevented him continuing the battle, the 24-year-old answered, “Not that much, I don’t think.”
“I was able to close the gap again pretty quickly for the last lap. But it’s kind of like I said, getting to within six or seven tenths was doable. But to then get even closer than that, I think I needed brand new Softs to be able to do much from that point. So, yeah, it was always going to be tough when I got close.“
The McLaren driver noted how he needed to try to pass when the window was open. Even if he did not lock up, that window might have closed for the Australian driver.
“But, I mean, you never want to not take an opportunity that you think is there in case another one never comes up. So, I had to go for it and, you know, in hindsight, obviously you can say maybe I should have waited another lap, but I’m pretty convinced that even if I had waited one more lap, it wouldn’t have changed anything.“
