McLaren driver Oscar Piastri didn’t look happy when he rewatched the first lap of the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and it’s easy to understand why.
Oscar Piastri was on pole position for the third time this season after a brilliant qualifying lap on Saturday.
However, the McLaren driver couldn’t take advantage of his better getaway off the grid despite having track position over Max Verstappen.
The four-time world champion placed his Red Bull perfectly around the outside of the Australian and by the time they had both negotiated the first corner of the chicane, Piastri had no choice but to yield as Verstappen switched back onto the inside.
Fans were amazed by Verstappen’s move on Piastri and it allowed him to build up a significant lead over both McLaren drivers.
Karun Chandhok then questioned Piastri’s strategy during the race, and he wasn’t alone in wondering what Andrea Stella’s team were doing on the pit wall.
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Piastri was asked by David Coulthard, via Sky Sports F1 (18/5 3:32 pm), about Verstappen’s move around the outside and said, “Yeah, I just braked too early and yep, it was a good move by Max as well, so disappointing obviously but I think we made a few wrong calls after that anyway.
“Not our best Sunday, so, definitely a lot of things to look at and review from that one, but, well done to Max and Red Bull.
“I think it was a good move but they also had the pace today, so, yeah we’ll look back at that one and see what we can do a bit better.”
The Australian was then asked about the virtual safety car and safety cars that took place in the race and continued, “It was tricky.
“Obviously the VSC was perfectly timed for Max and Lando and then I’d obviously used both of my hard tyres by then, so it made the last restart pretty tricky.
“I tried my best to hang onto second, but yeah, I had nowhere near enough grip, So, third it is.”
David Coulthard then commented on Norris’ move on Piastri during the final laps, and explained, “I tried my best to hang on, but I just didn’t have the grip.
“I tried my best, and it was inevitable that I was going to get passed, but I wasn’t going to give up without a fight.”
Verstappen was interviewed after the race and admitted that he was surprised that he managed to pull off the move on Piastri. He was glad that it ‘worked really well’, and allowed Red Bull to then ‘unleash’ their true pace for the rest of the race.
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Piastri didn’t sound happy with McLaren’s strategy calls during the race, and one in particular stands out.
Norris, Verstappen, Alex Albon and Isack Hadjar proved how long drivers could run on the medium tyres if they battled through the first period of graining.
However, McLaren gambled with Piastri and pitted him early, forcing him into a two-stop strategy and he had to battle his way through traffic to reach clean air.
Piastri going into that first corner would have looked into his mirrors and seen George Russell was closing in faster than Verstappen, and once he took the inside line, he might have thought he was safe.
Verstappen proved once again that he simply can’t be written off and is capable of pulling off overtaking moves almost no other driver can do.
