“I don’t want to be seen as a pest on track”: Oscar Piastri sets the record straight about his champion mindset in F1

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has said that he does have a ruthless edge, notwithstanding his calm demeanor inside and outside of the car. The Aussie driver has impressed everyone with his rapid progress in the sport, from being a rookie last season to becoming one of the top drivers in the sport this season.

He has come close to winning the last four races, though taking the win only at the Hungarian GP. The McLaren driver was a few tenths of a second away from winning the Belgian GP on Sunday but could not get ahead of the eventual winner Lewis Hamilton.

Piastri has been appreciated for his cool and calm demeanor inside the cockpit in pressure situations but he revealed to Sky Sports that his easy-going and laid-back personality should not be mistaken for a lack of ruthlessness. He said:

“Just because I’m calm doesn’t mean that I’m not ruthless. I don’t wanna be seen as a pest on track but you have to earn your respect. I feel like that’s something that I’ve done and try to race people hard but fair.”

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Oscar Piastri gives his take on missing out on Belgian GP win

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri stated that he could have won the Belgian GP on Saturday as he crossed the line 1.1 seconds behind the Mercedes of George Russell in P3 but was promoted a place after Russell's disqualification for an underweight car.

Speaking with F1.com, the 23-old reflected on if he could have won his second race in a row and said:

“Honestly yes, I thought I could. Clean air was such a big difference today—once I got a little bit of clean air in the middle stint I picked up a lot of pace and managed to get a nice tire delta for the last stop. But clearly didn’t need tire delta, you just needed to keep going as George showed!

“But no, happy with the result. I think we managed the race very well. I think that’s the second or third time this year we’ve tried to run over the front jack, so I’ll try not to do that next time…But very happy with the result and I don’t think we could have done too much more.”

Piastri also shared that he and the Woking-based outfit were feeling very positive as they "still made inroads on Red Bull today and that’s a really positive thing going into the break."

The Aussie has moved to fourth place in the driver's championship and is closing in on Ferrari's Charles Leclerc, as he sits on 167 points as compared to the Monegasque's 177. His McLaren teammate Lando Norris is on 199 points in second position heading into the summer break.