Oscar Piastri rues early clash with Pierre Gasly, as he remains unsure of McLaren's true pace.

The Woking team's weekend went from bad to worse right at the very start, when Piastri clashed with Gasly as they battled for position in Turn 1 of the opening lap.

In the process the Australian, who had started eighth, received damage to his car which necessitated an early pit stop, while teammate, Lando Norris got hit by a piece of the debris from the clash causing damage to his car also.

As a result of that early stop, rookie Piastri remained on his hard tyres for the remaining 49 laps of the race.

In the final stages he was in a three-way scrap with his teammate and Logan Sargeant, and while the Briton was urged not to make things difficult, he was clearly unwilling to roll over for the Australian.

Nonetheless, Piastri got ahead with three laps remaining and nailed the Williams driver on the final lap.

"I think doing 49 laps on the hards is never going to be great for your race pace," he subsequently told reporters, "but we'll have a sit-down and have a look at how it was."

Asked about the clash which compromised his race before it had really begun, he said: "I think it was really just one of those Lap 1, Turn 1 incidents.

"I was honestly quite surprised to have damage," he continued. "The rest of the race was reasonable, some good experience with learning how to use the battery then with overtakes and stuff like that.

"We kept it sensible," he said of the battle at the end, "obviously battling for those positions there's not much to gain.

"I think there was a call for Lando to, if I had the chance, not make it too difficult. In the end, it led me to have a shot at Logan, which paid off, so nice bit of teamwork at the end, really.

"Next time, hopefully, it's a bit further up!"

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by kenji, 22/03/2023 0:44

"I think that Norris's dismissive comments re his race with Oscar show that he is worried by the kids racecraft and ability. Piastri did what Norris couldn't then Norris tried to down play that with an arrogant quip! Oscar will take that on board and use it to his advantage in the future. He drove a very impressive race and if he can keep the pressure on and get equal treatment from the team we will see some spirited racing for the rest of the season....I hope."

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2. Posted by Chester, 20/03/2023 11:19

"I was not a fan of Oscar given the way he entered McLaren and his position on "speaking out" (who cares about your positions, I don't), but I am warming up quickly to him. Go Oscar!"

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3. Posted by Spindoctor, 20/03/2023 10:54

"Promising performance. Look forward to seeing how he develops and how Lando reacts if he continues to be as fast...."

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"Next time, hopefully, it's a bit further up," jokes Piastri

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