Oscar Piastri fell ill due to a stomach bug right before the start of the Azerbaijan GP. It is believed that the 21-year-old driver suffered from food poisoning before coming to Baku. It was reported that the driver lost 3 Kilos of weight during the weekend.
Yet the driver did not give up and put on a good performance. He almost scored points on his first-ever F1 sprint race and put up a tough battle with the other drivers.
The actions by the McLaren driver got a special from F1 Presenter Tom Clarkson. He claims it reminded him of how Piastri’s agent managed to race despite being severely ill.
Tom Clarkson Claims Oscar Piastri reminded him of Mark Webber
F1 presenter Tom Clarkson lauded Oscar Piastri for his efforts in the 2023 Azerbaijan GP weekend despite his illness. The F1 presenter also admired the youngster’s mentality to not blame his illness for poor performance.
The actions of the McLaren driver reminded Clarkson of former F1 driver Mark Webber. He shared on the F1 Nation podcast how the youngster is already showing terrific grit and determination.
Clarkson said, “When I see Mark and Oscar I see no difference. The fact that Oscar did not bleat in the press about his illness, that’s just a very Mark Webber thing to do.”
Webber infamously vomited in his helmet during the 2007 Japanese GP. Despite suffering from food poisoning, the Australian driver managed to qualify for 8th. He managed to stay 2nd for most of the race until a collision with future teammate Sebastian Vettel ended his outing.
Mark Webber gives insights into Piastri’s illness
Oscar Piastri put in a valiant display of performance on Friday’s qualifying. The Aussie pipped Mercedes’s George Russell to enter Q3. He secured a P10 start for Sunday’s race.
The McLaren driver also managed to secure a P11 start ahead of his first-ever F1 sprint. He narrowly missed out on points having finished P10, far ahead of teammate Lando Norris.
Mark Webber appreciated Piastri for his ‘solid’ performance during the sprint race. He reasoned, “Saturday, in particular, was very special considering that he was in all sorts of trouble.” The Aussie claims it was not looking pretty for the youngster, as he was vomiting hours before the race.
Piastri himself admitted to surviving on 4 slices of toast ahead of the main race. He finished the main race P11, narrowly missing out on points. However, the driver remains optimistic about improving his performance ahead of the Miami GP.
