10/05/2024
NEWS STORY
Thirteenth, but with the fastest lap of the race, doesn't begin to tell the story of Oscar Piastri's Miami Grand Prix.
A strong start followed by a great move on Carlos Sainz in the aftermath of the Sergio Perez incident in Turn 1, saw Piastri settle in behind Charles Leclerc in third as they pursued race leader Max Verstappen.
Just a couple of laps later the Australian youngster nailed the second Ferrari to claim second, a podium finish surely on the cards.
However, the timing of the Safety Car and the subsequent over enthusiasm of Sainz saw Piastri drop to last, the Australian valiantly fighting back to finish 13th.
"Definitely a lot of positives to come from today," he insisted. "For both of us, the car was really strong. For Lando, to win the race on pace and to pull away from Max after the Safety Car, I think that's a very, very encouraging sign.
"So very happy for him and for the whole team. I think we deserve it," added the Australian. "Our trajectory in the last 12 months has been towards this moment.
"Even with the car that I had, I think we were very strong as well," he said. "I'm excited for Imola."
Asked about his great start, he said: I was happy with the start. The fact that I could get past Leclerc as well was unexpected coming into the race. From that point, I was quite happy and was reasonably comfortable with him behind me there, just timing of the Safety Car wasn't ideal."
And the Sainz incident...
"I need to see," he said. "I mean, we weren't particularly close to the apex, but I need to see it first."
The stewards did see it, and accordingly hit the Spaniard with a time penalty that dropped him from fourth to fifth... not that it helped Piastri whose race had been wrecked by the move.
Check out our Sunday gallery from Miami here.