‘Infuriating’: Oscar Piastri win tainted by ugly claim

Oscar Piastri is celebrating victory at the Qatar Grand Prix, but the result has been muddied by claims it was a bad look for the sport.

Oscar Piastri has won the Qatar Grand Prix sprint race in dramatic fashion as McLaren pulled off a 1-2 finish.

The Australian was gifted the race win by teammate Lando Norris after team tactics that left Mercedes driver George Russell fuming.

Norris’ gesture was well overdue after the Australian previously moved heaven and Earth to help his teammate in his world championship battle with Max Verstappen.

This time it was Piastri who got to cross the line first — just 0.136 seconds ahead of Norris — the closest ever finish in a sprint race.

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Just 1.3 seconds covered the top four at the end of the race with Russell and Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz breathing down the Papaya pair’s necks.

“It was a good show of team work, something we discussed before the race,” Piastri said.

“I guess you can say the favour has been returned. Good race, good points. A bit tricky to keep George behind but a good race for the team.”

Piastri benefited by getting a DRS tow from his teammate, allowing him to have an advantage over Russell as the race progressed.

The British driver was not happy about the tactic, describing the crafty strategy as “infuriating.

“It was very close going into Turn One on a couple of occasions. It was so frustrating every lap with Lando backing up to give Oscar DRS,” Russell said on Sky Sports.

“I understand why they did that but when you’re out here fighting you want to put a race on for the fans. It was pretty infuriating.

Lando Norris gifted Oscar Piastri the sprint race win. Photo: Sky Sports via Fox Sports.

“Lando had good pace, Oscar was struggling so it would have been good to go head-to-head with Lando to see what the true pace would have been.”

He went on to say: “It is frustrating when you’ve got team orders in front of you and it’s two against one. We know in this sport you can’t overtake without DRS. I think Lando had a lot of pace in hand. I had a lot of pace in hand, but they drove very well together as a team.

“It’s not how I want to see F1. If I’m a fan at home that’s not what I want to see because I want to battle it on track and I want the best man to win, and of course the ending as well.

“But you’ve got to respect them for chasing their goal which is to win the constructors’, and if Lando went into the distance I’m very confident I would have passed Piastri and that’s one less point for them.”

Norris and McLaren team principal Andrea Stella both confirmed after the race that Norris’ gesture was not planned and that the British driver surprised everyone.

He said he had in fact disobeyed the team.

“The team told me not to do it, but I did it the best way I could,” he said.

“It was probably a bit closer than what I was wanting, but I planned to do it since Brazil,” Norris said.

“It’s just what I thought was best. It’s probably a little bit sketchy. The team told me not to do it but I thought I could get away with it, and we did.

Oscar Piastri gestures after winning the sprint race Photo by Andrej ISAKOVIC / AFP.

“Honestly, I don’t mind. I’m not here to win Sprint races, I’m here to win [Grand Prix] races — and a championship, but that’s not gone to plan. But I did the best we could and I look forward to tomorrow.”

The result has boosted McLaren’s push to win the constructors’ title for the first time since 1998.

The result secured 15 points for McLaren in their bid to resist Ferrari, extending their advantage to 34 points with two Grands Prix remaining.

Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc was fifth with seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton taking sixth position.

The day belonged to Piastri, however.

“It was defence all the way the whole race for me,” he said.

“I had a good start and then Turn One, but not the pace I needed and then I was struggling, but it was great teamwork and a great McLaren 1-2!”

The race was preceded by much paddock discussion of Hamilton’s speed, or apparent lack of it in Friday’s qualifying, the Briton claiming he was “definitely not fast anymore” after being outqualified again by Russell.

His former McLaren teammate Jenson Button, the 2009 world champion, reacted by saying: “It’s getting to him a little bit... But, that’s the thing with Lewis.

“You expect him to get more in qualifying. It hasn’t happened, but we know his pace and he’s still quick. It is in there.”

— with AFP