Oscar Piastri takes a sarcastic jibe at Pierre Gasly in the Canadian GP press conference - “It's a bit nicer than trying to fight for a point”

McLaren F1 driver Oscar Piastri sarcastically apologized to Alpine F1 driver Pierre Gasly after a jibe regarding their differences in their standings. A year ago the Woking-based team was fighting to get into the points and was firmly in the midfield heading into the races, but their mid-season upgrade changed their fortunes completely.

The former world champion's jump to the top of the grid was the story of the season last year that enabled them to finish P4 in the Constructor's Championship. Alpine find themselves in a similar situation as they are currently in the lower midfield and have been fighting for the minor points.

In his pre-race press conference, Oscar Piastri mentioned the difference in driver mentality compared to driving at the front from midfield scraps. He said:

"I would say the last few weekends, with a few things going slightly differently, then there's been a lot of potential. It does bring me back a bit to my junior days. And it does change the feeling of how you go racing a little bit. It doesn't change the approach, I would say."

In his explanation, he inadvertently took a dig at Alpine and Pierre Gasly's current predicament and added:

"Of course, when you go into a weekend knowing that you can fight for a win, it's a bit nicer than knowing that you should be trying to fight for a point maybe, sorry. That was us 12 months ago. So, you know, I guess I know already what it's like to be in both positions, but I think we all know which position we'd rather choose."

Oscar Piastri previews the 2024 Canadian GP this weekend

Oscar Piastri stated that he was confident that he could perform better than last year's Canadian GP when he qualified P11 in Montreal.

He told the media:

"I hope so. I think we can be pretty confident that we'll be somewhere in the mix, which is pretty exciting to say. I don't know if we'll be the favorites, so to speak, but I don't really know who you can say are the favorites at the moment."

The McLaren driver pointed out that the British team was firmly in the mix for race wins in the 2024 season after their performances on different tracks, adding:

"So, yeah, excited to see where we come out. Hopefully, it's better than finishing 11th. But, yeah, I think we're definitely in the mix now, and I think the last few weekends have proven that on very different tracks."

Oscar Piastri is currently P6 in the Driver's Championship with 71 points in the eight races and two Sprints so far and is currently 36 points behind Sergio Perez in the standings.