Although he applied relentless pressure to eventual winner Lando Norris throughout the Austrian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was unable to find a way past his team mate during the battle and settled for second place.
After the McLaren pair came to blows last time out in Canada, there were plenty of tense moments as Piastri continuously fought to take the race lead at the Red Bull Ring. Frustrated after a badly timed yellow flag in Qualifying, he was eager to get back to the front as soon as possible.
He started from P3 on the grid but did not stay there for long, capitalising on Charles Leclerc’s failed challenge on Norris at lights out to sweep past the Ferrari and launch the prolonged attack on his team mate.
The Australian crept closer and closer until he momentarily snatched the lead on Lap 11, making the most of a small error Norris made at Turn 1. However, the Briton stayed close and the two went side-by-side through Turn 4, ending with him reclaiming first place.
Following the eventful race Piastri summarised that the battle was “intense”, adding: “I hope it was good watching because it was pretty hard work from the car! I tried my absolute best.
“I probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily, but it was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far, but it was a good race.”
One of those ‘on edge’ moments came on Lap 20 when Piastri locked up in the middle of an overtake attempt, coming remarkably close to making contact with the rear of Norris’ car. The two kept it clean and the latter peeled off into the pits, while Piastri opted to stay out for another four laps.
He hoped to use the advantage of having fresher tyres later on in the race, but a slow stop meant he returned onto the track six seconds adrift of Norris. Even once he cut the gap down, the challenge of passing numerous backmarkers prevented him from getting back into DRS range.
Despite missing out on the win, Piastri was pleased with the outcome and said: “That’s what we’re here to do, try and race each other and try and fight for wins. That’s what we did today, it was close for me but not quite enough.
“Thanks to the team – to have the kind of pace that we did whilst battling each other, it was very impressive so I can’t thank the team enough for the car we’ve got.”
Asked to elaborate on whether he expected to engage in a race-long battle, he added: “Yeah, I thought it was possible. I think Qualifying yesterday was unfortunate with the yellow flag. I feel like the pace this weekend has been good.
“I think once I could stay in the DRS it felt pretty good, afterwards once I dropped out after the first stop it was tough to make the progress to get back. Some things to go over and see if we could have done anything better.”
