Oscar Piastri has explained that he doesn’t “feel hard done by” despite moments within this year’s Formula 1 season that cost the McLaren driver valuable points.
The Australian arrives at this weekend’s Dutch Grand Prix a mere nine points ahead of McLaren team-mate Lando Norris in the Drivers’ Championship.
Piastri has lost ground to the Briton over much of the European leg of the campaign, after an early-season spell which saw him open up a bigger lead.
A notable moment which saw his lead shortened was at Silverstone, when he received a 10-second penalty for heavy braking under the Safety Car, helping Norris to victory.
And at the previous round in Hungary, Piastri finished second to Norris after the latter’s pivot to a one-stop strategy saw him hold the lead to the chequered flag.
When asked if he perhaps felt aggrieved that he could be as much as 37 points clear in the title race, Piastri said that moments such as those are part and parcel of the sport.
“No, I don’t,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“I think there’s always going to be things in racing that you don’t necessarily agree with or don’t go the way you want, and that’s just part of it.
“Sometimes it makes you wonder why you picked this damn sport!
“But no, I certainly don’t feel hard done by, but I think we’ve done a lot of things well that we can control this year.
“There’s been some tough moments, some tough lessons, but I’m very confident with the position that I’m in.”
Piastri full of self-confidence with 10 races to go
Naturally, there is a feeling of the pendulum swinging towards Norris, given the points that he has been able to claw back, plus winning the final race before the summer break.
But Piastri intimated that not only is he confident in his own abilities, citing his performances this year and the handling of certain on-track situations.
“I feel like I’ve driven well this year, and again, a lot of the things I can control I feel like I’ve controlled very well,” he explained.
“So yeah, there is obviously a universe where a lot of things look very different, but none of that matters.
“So I’m just trying to focus on these next 10 races and how I can perform either the same or if not even better than I did at the start of the year, and focus on that.”
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