F1 star Oscar Piastri reveals he's been racing with major injury

Oscar Piastri, George Russell, Marcus Dudley, Carlos Sainz, Austria, 2024 — Photo: © IMAGO

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F1 star reveals he's been racing with MAJOR injury

Oscar Piastri's performance doesn't seem to have been impacted

By Sheona Mountford.

Sunday 11 August 2024 19:00

McLaren star Oscar Piastri has revealed that he was racing with a broken bone in the lead up to Formula 1's summer break.

The Australian has been enjoying a brilliant sophomore season, winning the first grand prix of his career in Hungary – a win which now looks all the more impressive.

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Piastri posted a 'summer break' tweet, which contained three pictures of him celebrating and one of a scan with a clearly broken bone – helpfully labelled as a sixth rib fracture.

“First part of the season done. First GP victory. First broken bone. Rib’s enjoying the break,” he wrote.

First part of the season done.
First GP victory.
First broken bone.
Rib’s enjoying the break ? pic.twitter.com/xee5myxNTP
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) August 11, 2024

When did Piastri break his rib?

The next race came two weeks later at the Hungaroring, a race which Piastri won in controversial team order-related circumstances to stand on the top step of the podium on a Sunday for the first time in his career.

Given that the average broken rib takes roughly six weeks to heal, it seems likely that Piastri was in significant discomfort inside the cockpit of his McLaren – giving the victory another layer of gloss.

His team are also closing in on Red Bull in the constructors’ championship, with 42 points separating the two teams and 10 races left remaining in the season.

Red Bull Formula 1 McLaren Oscar Piastri British Grand Prix