Oscar Piastri has clarified comments he recently made about how McLaren’s team orders furore at the Italian Grand Prix impacted his Formula 1 championship bid.
The Australian revealed the incident in which McLaren ordered him to swap places with team-mate Lando Norris was weighing on his mind at the next race in Baku.
At that race, Piastri crashed early in Q3, condemning him to a ninth-place start on the grid, and then, having stalled, crashed on the opening lap, retiring from the race.
Piastri has failed to win a Grand Prix since, and the 34-point lead he held prior to Monza has been eradicated, with Norris 24 points ahead with three races remaining.
Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Las Vegas Grand Prix, Piastri explained that the incident is all part of the trials and tribulations that all title contenders must endure.
“Yeah, I mean there’s definitely been some tough moments through the year and some tough conversations as well,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“That’s part of the part of the game when you’re fighting for a championship.
“Things matter a lot and you’re gonna have those bumps in the road or things that you need to work out together as a team.
“I’m sure there’s no one on the grid that’s sitting there perfectly happy with every decision that’s been made, whether it be from their team, from the stewards, from how they’ve driven themselves.
“So it is all part of it that again there have been some tough conversations through the year and some things to kind of sort out and realign on, but I’m in a very comfortable place that we’ve done a good job of that as a team.”
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