“I’ll try not to run over the front jack”: Oscar Piastri finds humor after his incident during McLaren pit stop at the Belgium Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri has promised not to hit the front jackman again in the upcoming races after he hit his pit crew during the Belgian Grand Prix. The McLaren driver unintentionally hit his team's front jackman during his second pit stop at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.

Piastri had an eventful afternoon on Sunday, as he started the Belgian GP from P5 but managed to improve and finish in P3. However, he felt he could have done better and further improved his position. If not a win, P2 was definitely on the cards for him, he stated.

During Lap 31 of 44, McLaren called the Australian driver for his second pit stop. As the #81 driver arrived in the pit lane, he overran his pitbox and hit the front jackman. As a result, he lost about two valuable seconds in the process, which hampered his race right at the end.

After the race, he went on to speak to Guenther Steiner in the post-race interview where he mentioned the jackman.

"Happy with the result, we managed the race very well, think that's the second or third time this year we've tried to run over the front jack so I'll try and not do that again," Piastri said.

However, he was happy with the hard-earned podium amid competition from other teams. Speaking about his expectations from the race and how it went, he added:

"I thought I could [get the Mercedes] as clean air made such a difference today. I spent too long trying to overtake Charles and the tyres overheated."

Piastri's teammate Lando Norris finished the race in P6 despite starting from P4. The British driver spent most of his race chasing Red Bull's Max Verstappen. Mercedes took a brilliant 1-2 finish after George Russell held off Lewis Hamilton to claim his second win of the season, and the third of his career.

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How did Oscar Piastri help McLaren close their gap to Red Bull?

Oscar Piastri celebrates on the podium at the Belgian GP. (Image via Getty)

McLaren are actively pushing Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship this season. The British team have enjoyed excellent development in recent months, and pipped Ferrari for P2 in the standings thanks to Oscar Piastri's win in Hungary.

With their victory at Hungaroring, and a P3 and P6 at Spa-Francorchamps this Sunday, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris helped their team trim their Championship gap to Red Bull from 51 to 43 points. Currently, the Austrian team is leading the championship with 404 points, followed by the Papayas with 361.

On the other hand, things are not going too well for Max Verstappen and his team. While the Dutchman is pushing to help him and his team stay in the championship lead, Sergio Perez's inability to step up is currently causing them trouble aplenty.