Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris’ statements after McLaren’s double podium in China, Piastri’s third career victory.
Oscar Piastri achieved his first win of the season and his third career victory, dominating the Chinese Grand Prix from start to finish. It was McLaren’s first double podium of the season, with Lando Norris (currently leading the driver standings) finishing in second place, despite a brake issue in the final ten laps of the race. Both drivers expressed satisfaction after the race, as shown in their statements.
These are the words of Oscar Piastri, fourth in the driver standings, 10 points behind Norris: “Will this be the season I fight for the title? I hope so. It’s been an incredible weekend from start to finish. The car was really exceptional the whole time, today was a bit of a surprise. We were a bit worried about the tire behavior, but we were superb throughout the weekend. This is the win I felt I deserved since last week. I’m extremely happy, we did an outstanding job with the double podium, I’m absolutely delighted.”
The Australian then spoke about tire management: “With the mediums, it was a bit complicated, but the hard tires were better than everyone expected. Going to the end was a pleasant surprise. I’m very happy with the race, it wasn’t easy, and I’m proud of the whole team.”
A thrilling second place for Lando Norris, who finished with a brake issue and a one-and-a-half-second lead over Russell. Here is the comment from the world championship leader: “There were some fun moments. At the start, I was really hoping for this: in turn 1, it went according to plan. Then George passed me with the pit stop, and I was a bit nervous, but our pace was clearly superior in the second stint. It was a difficult race, a lot of management, and I don’t think many expected a pit stop: that was a positive. Oscar drove well and was fast throughout the race, I tried to catch up, but in the end, I couldn’t.”
The Brit then added, speaking about the possibility of battling with Piastri: “It doesn’t matter now, he deserved the win, he drove well throughout the weekend. I’m happy with second place, good points, great for us as a team. We did a double podium, thanks to everyone in Papaya. This race went as we wanted, we’re happy.”
Finally, a comment on the brake issue in the final laps: “It was terrifying, my worst nightmare. The biggest issue for a driver is when you have a brake failure. I was losing two or three seconds in the final laps. So, I was pretty scared, but we survived and made it to the end. I would’ve liked to put Oscar under pressure, but today it was impossible. We’re happy with the result, we’ll try again next time.”
Photo: X McLaren F1 Team