Oscar Piastri had a lonely race in fifth position at the United States Grand Prix. The McLaren F1 driver did not have the pace of the drivers in front of him, and was well ahead of those he was ahead of, which made his race rather calm.
“It was pretty boring to be honest. I didn’t have the pace to do anything with those in front, I had the pace to keep the others behind, and that was basically what I had for an hour and a half!” said Piastri, who admits that the developments of the MCL38 are not yet ready.
“I think it was a surprise, the car was tricky to drive all weekend. Even in qualifying, Lando made us look better than we were, so it’s not a shock. From the first laps in testing, Ferrari seemed very solid, and even for four races.”
“At Monza it was the case, in Baku they were difficult to keep behind, and in Singapore they were on our pace, so it’s no surprise that they were fast. We expected it at this circuit but we have to find performance.”
In Mexico, Piastri hopes that his car will be more predictable on the track: “I hope the car will be better to drive than it was this weekend. There will be less grip because of the altitude, and the corners are very different from here.”
“We’ll see, it’s a lottery to see who can get into the rhythm the fastest. We were very slow during the first lap in practice and we didn’t know why. In Singapore, we were the fastest , and it was fun.”
The Australian was instructed to slow down so as not to pass in front of Lando Norris after the latter’s penalty. A penalty that he doesn’t really understand: “They told me to slow down on the last lap, which seemed logical to me. I saw the penalty, it’s hard. I was in the opposite situation yesterday with Max and I was penalized.”
“Considering the fact that they are similar events and the penalties are reversed, probably not! It’s difficult, especially when there is a car on the outside and both go out, it’s not easy to decide. Twenty or 30 centimeters makes the difference.
“It’s very difficult. Every driver has a different interpretation, especially on the outside. Unless the car is in front you don’t know where you’re going, it’s very hard especially in this kind of corner. We should maybe -be having NASCAR rules and fixing it in the pits Although, no, some people tried that and took community service.”
However, he recommends finalizing the rules with the stewards and the FIA: “I don’t know, but considering these are similar incidents with very different outcomes, we probably need to talk about it a bit.”
