30/06/2025
NEWS STORY
Oscar Piastri has apologised for his close encounter of the wrong kind with teammate Lando Norris, whilst taking a swipe at Alpine.
Hard on the heels of his teammate, having nailed Charles Leclerc in the opening corner, the Australian briefly snatched the lead with a move in Turn 3 on Lap 11, but lost it again in Turn 4 when Norris took full advantage of his DRS.
On Lap 20 the Australian tried again, but in the process locked-up his front-left and almost collected his teammate. He was subsequently warned not to repeat the move.
"I think that was a fair comment," said Piastri at race end. "I knew that was a bit risky when it happened, so I think that's fair."
Referring to his (briefly) successful move earlier in the race, he said: "With the DRS here, it's very difficult to know when to go and when not to go.
"I felt like the best opportunity for me was into Turn 3," he admitted. "Maybe I should have waited one more straight into Turn 4, but it's very difficult to know in the moment. I tried my best, so that's all I can ask for."
Finishing second, Piastri retains a 15 point lead over his teammate. Asked if, on the day, he felt he was the quicker driver, he said: "I think the pace was very strong for me. I don't know, with the blue flags, dirty air, DRS, slower pit stop... it's difficult to know what the true pace is, but I think it was very encouraging. Encouraging that I could claw my way back in a little bit towards the end. Even if it's not a win, a lot of positives from today.
Referring to the moment when his race almost ended when Franco Colapinto forced him on to the grass as he was being overtaken, Piastri joked over his radio: "Alpine still manages to find a way to f*** me over all these years later!"
It was an obvious reference to his wrangle with the French outfit - whose Academy he had joined in 2020 - and which announced him as its (F1) driver in the summer of 2022 only for the Australian to announce that there was no contract and following confirmation by the FIA's Contract Recognition Board, saw him join McLaren.
"I just didn't see him," said Colapinto of the Lap 54 incident. "He was in my blind spot and I was focused on Tsunoda. I really wanted to get past."
"It was an exciting fight with Oscar," said Norris post-race. "It was tough, especially the first few laps, the first twenty laps. He was pushing a lot and I think he just had DRS, and then he could get the battery up and I had to keep using my battery to try and get him out of DRS. So I was in a very, very difficult situation.
"But I managed to always stay ahead, even though I made a couple of mistakes here and there and he had a couple of opportunities."
Referring to the move on Lap 11, the Briton said: "Around here, it's not like once the overtake is done, it's done. You have plenty of opportunities. The next corner you can get a good exit, so I got the perfect switchback out of turn three. So as long as you position the car in the right place and you put them in a defensive mode, then you can take advantage of it like I did.
"Of course I was close to losing it, but I stayed ahead and that was for me the most important. I had track position but it was a tough battle," he admitted.
"We're always still trying to win the races and finish first and second. And, with how the car was today, it was pretty dominant comparing to the rest of the grid. But it's tougher than it looks, you know, to place the car perfectly, to not make a mistake, to not lock up. There were some close moments today, but I think all very fair and all acceptable, in my opinion. So, yeah, some good racing between us."
Asked about the fact that next weekend see his home race, the Briton said: "For me, I couldn't ask for a better way to come into my home race and the best race of the year.
"'I'm excited for Silverstone no matter what. But of course, coming in with a win, with some good energy, hopefully gets the fans going a little bit more. I want to just go to Silverstone now, but at the same time, I would love just one or two days off first."
Check out our Sunday gallery from Zeltweg here.