Oscar Piastri backed the stewards’ decision to penalise Max Verstappen for passing him off the track on the first lap of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver won the race after taking the lead while Verstappen served a five-second time penalty during his only pit stop.
Piastri started from second place and immediately drew alongside Verstappen on the run to turn one, nosing ahead slightly as they approached the corner. While Piastri ran to the outside of the corner, Verstappen cut across the asphalt run-off area and rejoined the track ahead of his rival.
“I got a great launch and got myself alongside,” Piastri explained. “And from that point I knew that I obviously had to brake quite late, but I knew that I had enough of my car alongside to take the corner.
“We obviously both braked extremely late. For me, I braked as late as I could while staying on the track.”
It took race control little more than six minutes to announce Verstappen’s time penalty. “I think how it unfolded is how it should have been dealt with,” said Piastri.
The stewards said Verstappen would have been given a 10-second penalty for the infringement had it not happened on the first lap of the race.
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As Verstappen remained in front of him, Piastri struggled in the Red Bull’s wake until he pitted on lap 19. “The first stint was tough behind Max,” he said.
“Then once I had some clean air, it was a bit easier to manage. But I still couldn’t afford to take my foot off the gas.
“It was a difficult race, and Max was quick behind me, so I had to keep pushing. I think I could control it reasonably well, but it was a little bit tighter than I would have liked.”
Piastri beat Verstappen to the chequered flag by just 2.8 seconds, setting his fastest lap on the final tour. “I don’t know how long I could’ve done that,” he said, “but I felt like I was taking decent risks for the race.
“The last lap, obviously, I wanted to see exactly what I had, but there’s not too much point in taking a crazy risk as well.
“Once we had some clean air, our pace was okay. But the end of the medium [tyre] stint, I had nothing for Max and it was a struggle. The pace wasn’t as much of an advantage as I wanted it to be, but it was good enough.”
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Piastri’s third victory from the first five races this year means he leads the championship for the first time in his career. However he said he will continue to approach every race the same way.
“I still want to go out and try and win every race I can,” he said. “I’m not that bothered by the fact that I’m leading the championship, but I’m proud of the work and the reasons behind why we’re leading the championship.
“Melbourne wasn’t a great start to the year in terms of results. But from the moment I’ve hit the track this season, I felt like I’ve been in a good place.
“Leading the championship is a result of all the hard work we’ve done in the off-season, the hard work I’ve done personally, the hard work the team has done. I’m more proud of all of those things than I am of the fact that I’m leading the championship because, ultimately, I want to be leading it after round 24, not round five.”
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