Though delighted with second, Oscar Piastri admits that it hurts to be that close to a win and not succeed.

In the aftermath of the Verstappen/Norris clash, George Russell inherited the lead, while Piastri was second having passed Carlos Sainz in a brave move around the outside of Turn 6 that was largely missed due to the focus on the drama elsewhere.

The Australian subsequently set about closing the gap to the Mercedes driver but simply ran out of time, eventually crossing the line 1.906s down on the winner.

"I know it's only my fourth podium in F1 but to be so close to a win, it hurts a little bit," admitted the youngster at race end.

"But good points, obviously," he added. "I think the second half of the race we were coming on pretty strong. It's just when it's that close, you can't help but hurt a little."

Reflecting on his race, which he started from seventh after having his final Q3 time deleted for exceeding track limits, Piastri said: "I didn't get the best of starts, but saw a bit of an opening on the outside and then, yeah, went nice and late on the brakes. I couldn't really see where Checo went on the inside."

In fact, the McLaren driver was involved in a three-into-one tussle with Perez and Charles Leclerc, which saw the Ferrari driver pick up damage necessitating a race compromising pit stop.

"I didn't think he was really that far up alongside Charles," said the Australian, "but obviously all three of us kind of met at the apex, so it was quite fortunate for myself. I think there was a little bit of damage, but I don't think anything major. I had a bit more contact with Checo again a bit later in the lap, so it was an eventful race."

Having seen off Perez, Piastri spent much of the afternoon fighting Lewis Hamilton for fifth, he subsequently made a bold move on Carlos Sainz for third in the moments after his McLaren teammate had clashed with the race leader.

"Turn 6 was a happy hunting ground this weekend," smiled the Australian. "I think I did three moves there around the outside. It was very, very close on the way into turn 4," he said of the move on Sainz, "I had a bit more grip around the outside of 6 and managed to get it done. Pretty happy with that.

"In the first stint I didn't make quite as much progress as I would have liked," he admitted. "Obviously had a bit of an incident in Turn 1, and then just overheated the tyres a little bit. With the dirty air, it was so hard to get within a second, so didn't make much progress there. But then the next two stints, it really started to come alive. Went a bit longer on both the pit stops and turns.

"It just kind of felt like we needed some more laps towards the end, unfortunately. But after starting seventh it was obviously a good turnaround, good points."

Looking ahead to next weekend, he said: "I think we're actually in the mix. Silverstone's a track I always enjoy, it's the team's home race, so I'm excited for what's to come. Obviously it was a place of good memories from last year, and hopefully we can be up the front again."

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