“It’s been a difficult weekend for everyone”: Oscar Piastri has mixed reactions of the race after Las Vegas GP

Oscar Piastri stated that the Las Vegas GP did not count as redemption for his disastrous Brazilian GP outing. Speaking to media, including Sportskeeda, after the race, the Australian felt that even though the race was difficult in terms of routine, he managed to deliver a decent outcome.

Piastri finished the Brazilian GP a lap down along with fellow Aussie Daniel Ricciardo after getting caught out on the red flag after rejoining the race after a pitstop. The 20-year-old finished the race in Las Vegas in tenth place after a difficult weekend where his teammate Lando Norris crashed out of the race.

Asked by Sportskeeda if the results in Vegas felt like redemption for Brazil, Oscar Piastri said:

“Yes, and no. I mean, it's been a difficult weekend, I think for everyone involved. So, yeah, I mean, definitely, in terms of performance and pace, I was much much happier with how the race went today. Of course, in terms of results, it's it's not what we'd hoped for. But I think, you know, given how we looked yesterday, coming away with two points is not the end of the world. And I think the biggest positive was the pace in the car was there.”

Asked whether the race was compromised by the safety car, the Australian said:

“Yeah, I think so I think the timing of the safety car was pretty much perfect for the guys that stayed out of medium to start, you know, looking back on. And it worked perfectly for him. And yeah, I was really wishing the rule of using two compounds didn't exist, because I would have just gone to the end on the hard. And I think we had the pace to hang on to P4. So that was a shame. But yeah, you know, the the pace of the car was a really good surprise. I think yesterday obviously wasn't particularly representative of us of our pace. But today was probably better than we expected. So need to understand what the difference was. A lot of teams seem to be incredibly different from yesterday, you know, Williams, we thought would be quite quick today and weren't. So yeah, a few things to look at. But it almost feels like we deserved a bit more than p10.”

Running as high as fourth for a portion of the race, Oscar Piastri was set to bring some solid points home. However, the virtual safety car and safety car period compromised his performance on the hard tyre which resulted in him losing performance. The Australian rookie had pace to even target a potential podium in the dramatic street race. He felt that the weekend was harsh on teams and all those involved with the rigorous routine.

Happy with the racing produced on track, Oscar Piastri expected other teams that qualified higher such as Williams to be quicker. However, he was satisfied with the pace of his car which was the key positive takeaway of the weekend. The McLaren driver felt that they had better pace on the hard tyre compound and wished they didn’t have to switch two compounds in the race.

Oscar Piastri believes the Las Vegas circuit is great for racing

Piastri believes that the Legas Vegas circuit venue produced a lot of good racingm even if it was not a pleasure to drive. Most drivers complained about the slippery surface which resulted in a difficult experience. The McLaren driver believes the DRS zones were well placed and allowed for a lot of overtaking.

Asked what his thoughts on driving at the Las Vegas track were, Oscar Piastri said:

“Yeah to drive, It's not on my favorites list, but to race its you know, honestly, quite good. I think the sort of DRS zone into that last chicane was pretty perfectly a pretty good length that made it difficult you know, not super simple overtake into that corner. So I think that was good. I think you know, of course a lot of people are different tires. A lot of people suffering with graining, some not. So it just creates a natural pace difference between a lot of cars. And to be honest I think in any circuit we have that that's that's going to be the case because going into the race we thought it would be quite difficult to overtake to be honest. So a pleasant surprise and hopefully it will stay.”

Oscar Piastri has had a successful rookie season with McLaren. However, the last two race weekends have been a hit and miss for the young Aussie. A much more positive result in the Las Vegas race should hopefully boost his morale for the final race in Abu Dhabi to end the season on a high.