01/07/2025 07:15
Oscar Piastri confessed that he went too far with his overtaking
attempt on Lando Norris at Turn 4 during the Austrian Grand Prix,
to the extent that he agreed with a radio warning from McLaren.
Piastri started in third at the Red Bull Ring but quickly overtook
Charles Leclerc for second, before a battle with Norris which
lasted 20 laps. On lap 20, the fight came to an end, due to a late
divebomb from the Australian which almost saw him go into the back
of Norris. A crash was avoided, but only due to Piastri slamming on
the brakes, causing a huge lock-up. He was quickly warned by
McLaren that the attempt was over the limit, and that it could not
be repeated. In the end, he settled for second behind his
team-mate. When asked for his thoughts on McLaren's radio message
after the Turn 4 incident, Piastri answered: "Yeah, I thought it
was a fair comment. "Locking up and missing the back of your
team-mate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. Even if
I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision
to try that one again. So, yeah, a fair comment and nothing more
than that." It was an intense battle throughout the opening stint
in Austria which saw both McLaren drivers ease away from Leclerc in
third. Piastri acknowledged the duo came too close at times, just
one race on from Norris hitting him in Montreal. "Again, there have
been a few battles in the past, not just last week, but last year
and the year before," added Piastri. "So, I think we both knew what
to expect. It was a tough battle. "It was close at some points,
probably pushing the limits a bit much from my side once or twice.
But we're fighting for race wins in Formula 1. It's going to be
pretty tough work and pretty hard. "I thought it was an
entertaining race. After the first stop, maybe we didn't do the
right thing giving Lando some breathing room, but the first 20 laps
were pretty intense. So, it was a good battle."
