McLaren’s Oscar Piastri felt “very, very happy” to finish second at 2023 Belgian Sprint Race.
Coming into this weekend, Piastri had recorded his two highest-placed finishes in F1 of fourth and fifth at Silverstone and Hungaroring respectively, but the Australian produced a huge surprise in the Sprint Shootout as he qualified second after falling 0.011 seconds shy of Max Verstappen.
Heavy rain however meant that the race began with five formation laps under the Safety Car before racing commenced, with Piastri immediately pitting before the start of the first lap to switch from wet tyres to the intermediate tyres.
Piastri’s gamble quickly paid dividends as Verstappen pitted a lap later which handed him the lead as he built a 1.5 second lead over the two-time champion, until Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso spun out at Pouhon to cause a Safety Car on Lap 3.
Upon the restart on Lap 6, Piastri lost the lead to Verstappen heading onto the Kemmel Straight but eventually settled for second place and his highest F1 finish to date.
Reflectiing post-race upon his second-placed finish, Piastri described the result as “nice” with “really strong” pace in mixed weather conditions, which could again be the case for the Grand Prix tomorrow (30 July).
Piastri also spoke about his upturn in form but iterated that he has room for improvement, as he commented: “The last three weekends have been pretty special, compared to where we were earlier in the year, so, I can’t thank the team enough for the car.
“We’ve still got a little bit of work to do to continue working towards the top, but it’s a lot nicer to be up there and to lead my first laps in F1 was a day I won’t forget.”
McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella meanwhile was content with Piastri’s second-placed finish as he added: “There wasn’t much we could do with Max later on after the Safety Car restart, but we are very happy for Oscar scoring a first top three result in his F1 career with today’s P2.”
Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris meanwhile finished sixth after he was forced to pit at the end of the first lap after McLaren opted to pit Piastri first to avoid congestion in the pit box.