Oscar Piastri DELIGHTED with sprint podium but makes defeated Max Verstappen admission

Piastri voor de race op de Hungaroring — Photo: © LAT Images

Oscar Piastri

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Piastri DELIGHTED with sprint podium but makes defeated Verstappen admission

The Australian scored his first official F1 podium by following home the runaway points leader

Joe Ellis

Saturday 29 July 2023 20:27

Oscar Piastri was very happy to finish second in the Belgian GP sprint despite leading the opening laps.

The McLaren man took the lead going into the second of 11 laps after pitting as soon as the safety car retreated from the track.

A safety car for Fernando Alonso's crashed Aston Martin closed the gap between Piastri and Verstappen and the Red Bull star wasted little time in taking the lead once the race restarted.

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Piastri was still pleased with the result but admitted that McLaren just don't have an answer to Red Bull and Verstappen at the moment.

Piastri: We tried our best

Oscar Piastri has outshone Lando Norris this weekend for arguably the first time

"Very, very happy," Piastri said after the race. "We tried our best when the Safety Car came in and led a few laps. I tried my best but we were no match for Max.

"Nice to be up there in P2. Apart from Max our pace was really strong, so full credit to the team again. The last three weekends it's been pretty special compared to where we have been so I can't thank them enough for for the car.

"We've still got a little bit of work to do to get right to the top but it's a little nicer to be up there."