Piastri rues starting position costing him Belgium F1 win shot

Oscar Piastri is convinced that starting further down the order relative to McLaren’s true pace denied him a better chance at winning the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix.

McLaren was considered the top contender at Spa-Francorchamps, despite being hamstrung when using a set-up tailored towards drier conditions in a wet qualifying.

However, Lando Norris wrecked his chances when he dipped a wheel in the gravel at Turn 1, while Piastri came up short as he caught the Mercedes drivers at the end.

The Australian capitalised on his team-mate’s mistake and then passed both Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, but he was unable to make a move on Lewis Hamilton.

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George Russell was able to pip Hamilton completing one less pit stop prior to his exclusion, with Piastri conceding it was a strategic choice that he could’ve executed.

Nevertheless, Piastri, who was promoted to second amid Russell’s misfortune, believes that McLaren’s failure to maximise its one-lap potential was more detrimental.

“I’ve been pretty happy on the whole,” Piastri expressed. “I think it was a really well-executed race.

“I think the one-stop was a possibility and I think probably there’s a lot of people out there kicking themselves, they didn’t consider it more.

“But no, I think we executed a great race. Had a quick car and ultimately just didn’t put it in the right position in qualifying yesterday.

“So I think given where we started, very happy. But yeah, ultimately I think there was a bit more potential this weekend.”

Piastri has admitted that he contemplated attempting the one stop, but concern over how long the rubber would run at a competitive pace abandoned such thoughts.

But the turbulence running behind another car made overtaking trickier than anticipated, thwarting Piastri’s endeavours to come back at those ahead on fresher tyres.

“It did cross my mind, but not seriously enough,” he said regarding the one-stop. “I was amazed at how much difference the dirty air made today.

“I think when Lewis and Charles pitted for the second stop, I think I went one second faster just because I had clean air.

“So that was impressive, but then it felt like it kind of degged a little bit again after that point.

“With 16 laps, I think it was, or 15 laps around Spa, it felt like a pretty big risk to try and go to the end.

“I knew that even with the tyre advantage that we were building up, that we had a strong chance to try and win the race anyway that way.

“So yeah, maybe we should have considered the one-stop a little bit more.

“But I think with the two stop, I think we did a good job of capitalising on it. Just unfortunately on my side, didn’t give us the track position in qualifying.”

Piastri is certain he would have struggled to overhaul Leclerc’s struggling Ferrari to take third on the road without the vital move he made into Les Combes on Lap 36.

“I think to try and get past Charles was not easy, and I think if I didn’t manage to do it on that lap, I probably would have been stuck there for a long time,” he added.

“So that was a pretty pivotal moment of the race. I think just the pace was very strong.

“I felt very, very good this weekend. Even on Friday, the pace was really strong. I’m just kicking myself a little bit that I didn’t get qualifying right.

“But yeah, I think it was a very strong weekend and probably one of my better races.”

Piastri endured a bizarre moment when he overshot his marks at his second stop and caused his front jackman to stumble, but he has denied that hindered his hopes.

“It wasn’t my finest moment,” he conceded. “I don’t think it really cost much in the scheme of things.

“I think it meant I probably would have just been stuck behind Lewis and George for another lap or two at the end.

“But, yeah, obviously something I want to tidy up for all the other races.