McLaren finally managed to end a 16-year Formula 1 championship drought at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, but it wasn’t without adversity.
Before a corner had even been completed, Oscar Piastri found himself facing the wrong way after Max Verstappen steamed into the side of him.
The Dutchman was handed a 10-second time penalty for his troubles before Piastri received the same punishment for slamming into the back of Franco Colapinto.
Thankfully, Lando Norris’ dominant win helped them to cross the line ahead of Ferrari in the standings – despite Piastri’s mega recovery which saw him pick up one point for 10th.
Max Verstappen ‘apologised straight away’ to Oscar Piastri after Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Piastri admitted that he had a ‘miserable’ race after his turn-one contact, battling through the field and serving a big penalty.
It wasn’t the way he wanted to round his second Formula 1 season off – a year in which he claimed his first victory and championship with McLaren.
The silver lining is that he will get to celebrate bringing a big trophy to Woking with his team overnight – their first constructors’ crown in 26 years.
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It won’t completely heal the wounds of the day, but Piastri admitted to Sky Sports F1 after the race that Verstappen came and apologised to him immediately after the race.
“Probably yes but he came and apologised straight away. The stewards deemed it was a penalty. We go again next year.
“Was a tough race from then on, but we achieved our main target today but that’s all that matters.”
Verstappen claims he ‘couldn’t avoid’ Piastri accident
Verstappen’s launch off the line was so good from fourth on the grid, that he eased past Carlos Sainz and into third place before braking for turn one.
After ducking behind Piastri, he then made a last-second decision to make a desperate lunge at his Australian rival, which had devastating consequences – leading to Martin Brundle to call out Verstappen’s move.
Both pirouetted and effectively saw their races ruined before they had even completed one corner – a shame for something which could have been avoided.
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Or could it have been? Because Verstappen told Dutch media after the race that he didn’t think that he could have avoided the crash.
“I didn’t want to crash with Oscar, but I couldn’t avoid a touch,” he said. “For me, the most important thing was to apologise to him.”
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