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Oscar Piastri believes he could have finished higher than eighth place in the 2023 Mexican GP if it weren’t for the red flags. Speaking to media including Sportskeeda after the race, the McLaren driver felt there were circumstances in the race that didn’t favor them despite the pace of the car.
With teammate Lando Norris finishing 5th after starting 18th on the grid, an eighth place for Oscar Piastri was disappointing. The McLaren rookie was being outpaced by both AlphaTauri drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Yuki Tsunoda. An impatient move by the Japanese made him spin off into the run-off and finish outside the points. However, the 22-year-old Melbourne-born driver didn’t seem to be competitive enough after the red flag.
Asked by Sportskeeda if he could have finished higher up if it weren’t for the red flag in the race, Oscar Piastri said:
“Potentially yeah I think it didn’t really help me. I think that the pace on the hards was looking reasonable. Few things in the red flags that didn’t help us either. So yeah maybe not the right timing, but I don't think it was, I think we could have done or had a better race even with the red flag.”
Reflecting upon his incident with Tsunoda, Oscar Piastri was uncertain as to how the duo clashed. He recalled being in the braking zone at one of the turns when he touched wheels with the Alpha Tauri driver. With the Australian’s tires dropping away, the Japanese could have waited a little longer for him to be able to execute a better move.
Asked for his comments on the incident with Tsunoda, the Australian explained:
“Some big moves, I think hard racing in the end. I’m not really sure what happened. It was just braking and then we touched the wheels. So nothing really more than that.”
Despite the red flag during the Mexican race, Oscar Piastri felt they could have finished much further in the points. Admitting there were certain elements that fell out of their favor during the red flag, the Australian felt that his hard tire did not have the pace after the red flags.
A lot of drivers, including the young 22-year-old rookie, lost out on the red flags, especially the ones who had the hard tires on. With cooling temperatures, it was very difficult for most to manage the tire temperatures and extract performance from them. He was also carrying some damage on his car, according to the team statement.
Oscar Piastri believes points finish not a consolation in Mexico
As told to Sportskeeda earlier, Oscar Piasrti felt he could have executed a better race. The McLaren driver believes his teammate Norris’ final stint was a positive sign of the potential of their car. If it weren’t for a few areas he struggled in, he believes there were more points on the table to score.
With the Brazilian circuit being a new one for him, the 22-year-old believes it is going to be an interesting weekend particularly with the sprint format returning. Asked if scoring four points for eight finish was any consolation, Oscar Piastri said:
“I think with the pace we have in our car now, I don't really think it's that much to brag about. Still, I was looking for more. Just struggled a bit in certain parts which made life much more difficult. The pace with the cars around was similar, I think Lando was just very very strong in the last stint and was able to carve through.”
Looking forward to the last race of the triple-header in Brazil, the McLaren driver said:
“Yeah going to be another new circuit, sprint weekend, so I will have to get up to speed quickly. Looks like a cool circuit, an old-school circuit. So definitely something to prepare for and see what we can do. It’ll be interesting to see what the pace is like.”
Currently ninth in the driver’s standings, Oscar Piastri is still 82 points behind his McLaren teammate. The former F2 champion has had a mix of competitive and unfortunate weekends in his rookie season. With many circuits on the calendar still an unknown zone, the Melbourne-born driver has had a steady progression in terms of performance over the course of the season so far.
