Oscar Piastri has expressed that he hopes his luck turns as he rued a “cruel” Safety Car late in the Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix Sprint race costing him a potential win.
Piastri appeared on track to back up his consecutive victories in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia with more success in the Sprint as he led the truncated encounter in Miami.
Having lined up second, Piastri aced the start to come alongside pole-sitter Andrea Kimi Antonelli, who remonstrated that he was shoved wide as he slipped to fourth.
Piastri preserved the lead over his team-mate as the McLaren duo extended the advantage to Max Verstappen, but Lando Norris came on strong when the track dried.
The Australian looked to have secured the win when track position ensured McLaren prioritised him when the team elected to make the crossover to slicks on Lap 13.
But Fernando Alonso’s tangle with Liam Lawson leaving his Aston Martin in the wall prompted a Safety Car that enabled Norris to stop and retain the lead over Piastri.
“I feel like I did pretty much everything right there, so obviously a bit disappointed to come away with second,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week.
“But that’s how it goes sometimes. Unfortunately, racing is a pretty cruel business.
“Hopefully that means I’ve got a bit of luck for this afternoon and tomorrow. It was another great start and I had to get my elbows out on that one.”
Piastri eager to avenge Sprint loss
Piastri admitted that he was bidding to utilise McLaren’s apparent edge over the competition to ensure that he is in the box seat to avenge that loss in the main race.
“I think we had a little bit of pace on the table in Sprint Qualifying yesterday and hopefully we can use that for qualifying this afternoon,” he added.
“It’d be nice if the weather could make up its mind. But no, I’ve been enjoying it and I think we’ve got a quick car underneath us.”
READ MORE – Lando Norris: ‘Everything went to plan’ en route to F1 Miami Sprint victory
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