After taking pole position on Saturday, the Australian was aiming to continue his strong run and extend his lead in the championship standings. But Max Verstappen, in full World Champion form, seized the lead at Turn 1 with a bold move around the outside at the Tamburello chicane.
From that moment, the race took a turn McLaren neither expected nor wanted, with the Dutchman setting the pace both in terms of outright speed and race strategy, which ultimately played a decisive role.
“We have to admit Max made a great move. Obviously, finishing third like this is disappointing, but I also think we made some misjudgements afterwards; without a doubt, it wasn’t our best Sunday,” Oscar Piastri admitted after the race.
“There are certainly a lot of things we need to review, but I want to congratulate Max and Red Bull. Beyond the great overtake, they had good pace. On our side, we’ll try to understand what happened and improve in the future.”
As mentioned, the neutralisations shuffled the pack considerably—especially in the midfield—and with Verstappen controlling things from the front, McLaren attempted a two-stop strategy. This forced the championship leader to fight back through the traffic of drivers on a one-stop approach.
But midway through the race, a Virtual Safety Car followed by a full Safety Car effectively ended Oscar Piastri’s hopes. In the closing laps, he found himself on worn tyres and under attack from teammate Lando Norris, who managed to snatch second place.
“It was a difficult situation. Unfortunately, the VSC was perfectly timed for Max and Lando’s strategies. On the hard tyres, I struggled a lot after the restart and, even though I did everything I could to keep second place, I just didn’t have enough grip.”
“I tried, but I couldn’t hold on, and Lando’s overtake was inevitable. Still, I couldn’t give up without at least trying to fight.”
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