“They were on a mission”: Oscar Piastri labels Mercedes the quickest car in the Canadian Grand Prix

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri claimed that the Mercedes F1 team in the hands of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton was on a 'mission' during the final phase of the 2024 Canadian GP last weekend. The young Aussie driver finished the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in P5 behind Max Verstappen, his teammate Lando Norris, and both Mercedes drivers.

Piastri kept himself in the hunt for the final podium positions throughout the race and was right on the tails of Norris, Verstappen, and Russell. He was quick to pounce on Russell's mistake but a late safety car allowed Hamilton and Russell to pit for new slick tires and made him the first driver in the firing line.

As per the Pit Debrief, Oscar Piastri spoke about the rapid pace of the Mercedes drivers, who were arguably the fastest cars over the weekend. When asked about his podium chances, he replied:

“Pretty close until I got behind the Mercedes, and then I realized that they were on a mission. It would have been incredibly tough to keep them behind all the way to the end, especially being sort of the first car in the firing line for them.

"I tried my best to stay in front, but I think just on the new tires they were clearly a lot quicker than everybody."

Oscar Piastri analyzes his Canadian GP after finishing P5

Oscar Piastri stated that he was happy to be 'close' to the podium places as it reflected the pace of the car on the weekend.

Speaking with F1.com, the McLaren driver pointed out that as a team they could have done things a bit differently, saying:

“I drove a good race, the car’s been great all weekend, so thanks to the team. We’re close, it’s nice to be so close once again and on the podium, so we’ll keep fighting.”

“I think just maybe a few things in the race where if we did things a little bit better, myself and the team, we could have had a bit of a better result, or maybe a better chance of a better result."

The P2 and P5 in Canada with Lando Norris leading Oscar Piastri helped the Woking-based team to close down the gap to Ferrari in the Constructors Championship after the Italian team concluded their horrible weekend with zero points as both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz retired from the race.

McLaren currently sits in P3 as they are 40 points behind the Maranello-based outfit on 212 points compared to the latter's 252 after nine races and two sprints.

Oscar Piastri too gained 10 points on Sergio Perez in his quest for P5 in the Driver's Championship. He currently has 81 points to Perez's 107, having taken advantage of the Red Bull driver's DNF.