‘Oscar, we do see the impact of the damage’: Why Piastri’s third F1 podium is his most telling yet

Oscar Piastri’s third Formula 1 career podium is his most telling so far, with the 23-year-old who grew up in bayside Melbourne holding off some of the sport’s biggest names to finish second at the Monaco Grand Prix.

Piastri held off Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz jnr and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to finish second behind a clinical Charles Leclerc, who finally broke his run of horror luck from qualifying on pole position.

Race winner Charles Leclerc (right) and the second-placed Oscar Piastri celebrate on the famed Monaco podium.Credit: Getty Images

“Yeah, third podium in F1 certainly doesn’t get old. So, no, [I’m] very happy to have it here in Monaco, especially, you know, if there’s one podium apart from your home podium that you want to stand on, it’s probably here,” Piastri, who began the race on the front row, said later.

“So, [I’m] very, very pleased for the whole team. I think especially for our side of the garage, it’s been a promising few weekends now and nice to finally get a good result out of it. So [I’m] very, very happy.”

Leclerc, who was born and grew up in Monaco, had a run of 12 pole positions without a win heading into the race – stretching back to the Australian Grand Prix in 2022.

But his sixth career F1 victory was easily his sweetest, and he cried tears of joy as he crossed the finish line just over seven seconds clear of Piastri.

Yet it was Piastri’s nerves of steel in his McLaren that emerged as one of the biggest talking points of the race.

The notoriously unforgiving street circuit claimed its first victims after just the first corner on the first lap, and Piastri could so easily have joined Nico Hulkenberg, Sergio Perez and Kevin Magnussen on the sidelines.

While Leclerc converted his pole position into an immediate lead, Piastri had to tackle the famed “Sainte-Devote” corner so wide of the apex that he avoided collecting the barrier by the barest of margins.

Sainz wasn’t so fortunate, the front left of his Ferrari making contact with Piastri as they navigated the right-hander, with neither willing to concede an inch.

The crumpled wreck of Sergio Perez’s Red Bull being removed from the track. Miraculously, he walked away from his horror smash unscathed.Credit: Getty Images

It caused three-time race winner Sainz an immediate puncture and forced him into the pits, while the impact also damaged the sidepod and floor of Piastri’s McLaren.

Yet the Melburnian didn’t have to wait long for some running repairs. Haas’ Magnussen made contact with Red Bull’s Perez at about 240km/h heading “Beau Rivage” out of the first turn, triggering a horror crash at the back of the field that forced a red flag and a stop to the race of more than 40 minutes.

Hulkenberg, Magnussen’s teammate, was also caught up in the carnage as an innocent bystander and forced to retire.

And though the cars were seemingly smashed to smithereens, all three drivers emerged completely unscathed – an ode to the safety advancements of motor sport’s pinnacle.

Race stewards later declared the smash “a racing incident” – apportioning no blame. They reached the same conclusion for the incident involving Sainz – who recovered well after the restart – and Piastri.

The Monaco circuit is as famous for its lack of overtaking as it is the mega yachts covering the shoreline. Its unforgiving layout demands full concentration as well as nerves of steel, and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon showed neither as he collected his teammate, Pierre Gasly – also on the first lap of the race. While Gasly continued, Ocon was forced to retire.

“The one DRS [overtaking] zone here is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard”

Sky Sports F1 analyst Martin Brundle

And yet, incredibly, his was the last car forced from the race.

After the restart just before 11.50pm AEST, Leclerc again got an ideal start and kept Piastri and Sainz at bay in a strategic masterclass.

While Sky Sports F1 analyst and former driver Martin Brundle was at times exasperated by the lack of overtaking in the race – at one stage saying: “The one DRS [overtaking] zone here is about as useful as a chocolate fireguard” – even he was captivated by the “go slow” strategy employed at stages by Ferrari.

The picturesque Monaco was the scene of an eye-opening smash on the opening lap.Credit: Getty Images

It was done not only to preserve Leclerc’s tyres, but also to keep the other leaders of the field, including Piastri, Sainz, and Norris, bunched behind him, so they couldn’t afford the gamble of a secondary pitstop to change on to newer, quicker rubber.

“I had an attempt about 10 or 15 laps in, into turn eight,” Piastri said of his limited opportunities to overtake.

“We were going pretty slow. I think at one point we were going slower than Formula 2. You know, when you’re going that slow, you’ve got a fair few options. But, I kind of knew, that once I showed my hand in where I was going to try and overtake, that he would probably be wise to it from there. So I managed to get very close in turn seven, one lap.

“I tried to show the nose in turn eight, but he reacted just quick enough, so after that point I knew I was going to be very limited on options.”

As the race progressed, it became clear Leclerc had all the answers anyway, winning his home grand prix for the first time and breaking his Monaco curse.

Early in the race, on the seventh lap, in a section of the race that was all about management – the cars, their tyres, and their fuel loads – McLaren confirmed to Piastri over the team radio that his car had been damaged in the incident with Sainz, but at the same time gave him the confidence to keep pushing.

“Oscar, we do see the impact of the damage,” the radio message, broadcast by Sky F1, said. “[But] it looks like the aero balance is sensible at least.”

Piastri, sporting an Ayrton Senna tribute livery on his McLaren, finished seven seconds adrift of Leclerc.Credit: AP

Following the race, a matter-of-fact Piastri was full of praise for Leclerc’s win, but admitted finishing second had left him wondering might have been had he not fallen 0.154 seconds short of Leclerc in qualifying to start in second spot.

“It does, but, to be honest, Charles has been mega all weekend. They have been quick from the very first lap,” Piastri said.

“I think it would have taken something special in quali to outdo them. The opportunity was almost there, but it would have taken probably the best lap of my life, so I am happy with P2. A good result for the team again, very, very, happy.”

Triple world champion Max Verstappen was unable to recover from an uncharacteristically poor qualifying performance, finishing sixth. The Dutchman still sits atop the driver points table [169 points]. Piastri is sixth [71].

The procession-like closing stages of the race led some commentators to call for a future rethink on allowing the drivers to change to their preferred tyre choice during a red-flag race stoppage.

Piastri said the result gave his team confidence, heading to Canada in a fortnight for round nine.

“I feel like we don’t have to rely on the high-speed circuits like we did last year to get our results, which is a very exciting thing to have going forward. And, yeah, I think the pecking order is as tight as it’s ever been, especially this weekend,” he said.

“Going into qualifying, I think we thought that there could be any one of four teams on pole, which I don’t think we’ve been able to say for a while. So, I think we can definitely be in the fight every weekend.”

Piastri’s countryman and eight-time grand prix winner Daniel Ricciardo finished 12th.

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