Having spent much of the evening staring at Lewis Hamilton's rear wing, Oscar Piastri bemoans McLaren's lack of pace.

A somewhat ironic situation given that when subsequently shadowing the other McLaren the seven time world champion was left equally frustrated at the Mercedes lack of grunt.

Pitting during the Safety Car period that followed Lance Stroll's crash, once Charles Leclerc - who had also stopped - passed Hamilton, Piastri found himself hunting down the Mercedes for the next 21 laps until he too finally pitted.

When teammate Norris pitted a lap later, Piastri inherited fourth, the position he held until the end of the race.

Asked if hunting down Hamilton was fun, Piastri admitted: "I'm not sure fun is the word I would use... frustrating, yes.

"It kind of just showed a couple of weaknesses of ours," he continued. "I was very relieved when he boxed out of the way but i just didn't quite have enough on the on the straights, mainly, to get past."

The youngster made two valiant attempts to pass Hamilton at Turn 1 but on both occasions overcooked it and headed off over the run-off.

At the heart of the problem is the relative inefficiency of the McLaren's DRS.

"It's very, very even," said the Australian of the McLaren and Mercedes. "We have different strengths and weaknesses, for sure, and I think qualifying made the difference. Lewis showed that if we qualified behind them, there was a good chance we were going to be stuck behind them for the whole night. So I think it's very, very tight between us and we need to do some work to try and jump them and catch the two teams ahead."

"Oscar's race was effectively cashing in the strong results he already had yesterday, where he made strong progress through qualifying to qualify in P5," said team boss, Andrea Stella.

"Today, he managed to gain one more position, finishing P4 in what I think was a very clean and solid race, staying out of trouble, being quick, but also being patient when you have to be patient. You don't have to get nervous like 'I've not been able to pass Hamilton, I'm going to attack even more'.

"Actually, at one stage, he had a little lock-up into Turn 1," he added. "He stayed calm, he waited for the race to come to him. We're just very, very pleased but not surprised.

"We see all the details, we see all the data, and we know the potential is very high. And we know that the consistency from a racing point of view, and mental point of view, is very strong."

Check out our Saturday gallery from Jeddah here.

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 13/03/2024 12:31

"@ Chester...sorry to double dip but I forgot to mention that my observations of Norris appear to show his 'edginess'. He is feeling the pressure and maybe this heightened awareness of Piastri could in some way explain his 'jump start' after all he was occupying the slot next to Oscar and a fast getaway was what he needed if he was take the initiative. I should expect that there are some guidelines for the drivers on the first lap...."

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2. Posted by kenji, 13/03/2024 6:27

"@ Chester....interested in hearing your opinion re Jeddah 'jump start' by Norris. The stewards did nothing, which was totally wrong IMO. Yes, a faulty sensor failed to register but millions of viewers would give testimony to seeing him 'jump start' . He knew and the stewards knew that he jump started but he was not penalised. Grossly unfair to the rest of the grid. There are no grey areas in this one."

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3. Posted by kenji, 10/03/2024 23:10

"@ Chester...It's amazing how perceptions can differ. The OZ GP will let us see if the Piastri push gains any further momentum. I am hoping to see him put in another point scoring performance. "

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4. Posted by Chester, 10/03/2024 12:14

"Agree, Piastri is quite good. But with Lando you also get that personality that draws you in- he has a sort of star power. Kind of unfair, but life is that way."

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5. Posted by kenji, 10/03/2024 11:56

"What's not to like with Oscar and his racing attitude. Yesterday he was relentless in his pursuit and Hamilton even resorted to weaving in the braking zone whilst attempting to hold him off. Oscar is good and getting better with each and every race. Considering his team mate is now in his sixth full season Piastri is showing up rather well by comparison. Hopefully he'll be given equal status on strategy etc etc. despite the emphasis on Norris. "

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Lack of pace leaves Piastri frustrated

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