Oscar Piastri continued with his fine run of form after yet another scintillating display in Lusail on Sunday. The rookie earned his second consecutive podium finish, and had his teammate Lando Norris follow him in P3. This truly shows that McLaren is back, and Piastri for one is optimistic about the coming races, especially considering how much their gap to Max Verstappen has reduced, as per F1 Maximaal.
Piastri and McLaren started the season on the back foot. They struggled to even get into the points in the opening few races but saved their best for the latter half of the year. Since Austria, their upgrades have worked wonders, and they continue to reach new heights every weekend.
A second reason to smile 😁🏆 pic.twitter.com/FLAPJLhNjg
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) October 8, 2023
In Qatar, Piastri once again took a podium result after winning the sprint on Saturday, and P3 in Japan two weeks ago. This time, however, the gap to Verstappen was not that big which is a good sign according to the Melbourne-born driver.
Oscar Piastri happy to see the gap to Max Verstappen reduce
The 2023 season has witnessed a one-horse title race in favor of Verstappen from the start to the finish. With five races remaining, the 26-year-old had already sealed his title win, but he was still dominant in Lusail.
However, the gap between Verstappen in P1 and Piastri in P2 was just about five seconds. For the latter, this is huge progress, and is very encouraging, especially considering how huge the gap was in the initial stages.
We’ll enjoy this one. 🍾 And so should you, McLaren fans!
Another epic weekend on track and we felt your support every step of the way. Thank you for the love, we can’t wait to see some of you in Austin soon! 🧡🇺🇸#FansLikeNoOther #QatarGP 🇶🇦 pic.twitter.com/XDTCk0Mxkx
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) October 8, 2023
“Saturday was of course a very good day for me,” he said while talking about the Sprint, as quoted by F1 Maximaal. “And now it went well and we were able to show the speed of the car. It was encouraging to end up within five seconds of Max. That’s unbelievable when you watch the beginning of the season, so I’m very happy.”
The fact that Red Bull and Verstappen have all completed their goals this season, it would be understandable (but highly unlikely) if they took their foot off the pedal for the remaining five race weekends. If they do, teams like McLaren would love to take a shot at victory.
McLaren eyeing first F1 win since 2021
The last F1 driver to win a race for McLaren was Daniel Ricciardo, when he took the chequered flag in Monza two years ago. Since then, they have struggled to maintain consistency, as they mainly finished right outside of the podium places.
However, now, they are better than they have been in a long time. The Woking-based squad’s next aim is to win a race. This could be possible this season itself, but only if Red Bull show signs of weakness in the last five rounds.
