Piastri downplays watershed Belgian GP weekend

Oscar Piastri has described his watershed weekend at the Belgian GP as a boost to his confidence after claiming a maiden F1 top-three finish.

The Australian proved one of the stars of the weekend, coming close to pole for the F1 Sprint on Saturday after performing similarly well during Qualifying on Friday.

He even took the lead of the Sprint for a time, the first time he’s led in F1 though was predictably reeled in by the all-conquering Max Verstappen.

The understated Australian took it all in his stride as, off track, the paddock became a buzz regarding the 22-year-old’s meteoric rise.

Sunday didn’t go to plan, damaging his suspension after being squeezed into the pit wall at La Source by Carlos Sainz.

Forced out without having completed a lap, it was a reality check for the Australian following the highs he had experienced 24 hours earlier.

“I’ll still take a lot of confidence from it,” he said following his retirement from Sunday’s race.

“My qualifying pace has been very good, especially in these tricky conditions. I’ve been very happy with how I’ve driven and the pace I’ve had.

“Obviously my first top-three finish yesterday was a massive highlight; today is a shame that it’s ended so early.”

The race proved a tale of two halves for McLaren, with a disappointing start seeing Piastri eliminated and Norris plummet down the order.

To an extent, the team expected a more challenging time of it than it’s had in recent races – the MCL60 is not especially rapid in a straight line, which left it vulnerable in Spa – but even it didn’t predict it to struggle as badly as it did.

The issue was tyres, and the inability to get the hards working. Once Norris was on the softs, he rocketed back up the order to finish seventh.

“Don’t know what would have been possible with our pace,” ventured Piastri of his chances in the race.

“But yeah, I’ll take the positives. It’s been a busy six months, a lot busier than any other six months of my life.

“So I’ll enjoy a couple of weeks to reset and go over what’s been good and what’s been bad and then hopefully we can attack the second off the season strongly.”