Oscar Piastri’s Mum Jinxes Sergio Perez and Esteban Ocon’s Race With an Innocent Wish for Her Son

F1 rookie and the second-youngest driver on the grid, Oscar Piastri, has just won his first-ever race in his senior career. Despite the win coming from a sprint session, Piastri is over the moon, having tasted ultimate success at the end of a race. The famous win came amid a flurry of crashes and safety cars as Esteban Ocon and Sergio Perez were two of five drivers not to finish the race. At the end of it all, it seems Piastri’s mum was the point of difference, as her wish seems to have done the trick.

Following the crashing out of Lawson and Sargeant, the safety car had already been out twice. As Piastri took back the lead from Russell, the onus was on him to defend the lead with almost half the race remaining. As such, another safety car would’ve only helped his cause, and to his luck, the car came out again. While Perez, Hulkenberg, and Ocon battled it out, an unfortunate crash between the three saw Perez and Ocon crash into the gravel trap, and the safety car stopped racing. All of this happened following Nicole Piastri’s tweet, who only wished for the best for her son.

Mum’s honest wish might have led Oscar Piastri to the top of the podium

It was an exciting start to the Sprint session in Qatar as George Russell and both the Ferraris made quick work of overtaking Lando Norris after the green light. Soon, Russell took the lead from Piastri as Lawson’s crash brought out the first of three safety cars in the 19-lap race. Once racing re-began, Piastri overtook the Merc easily and went back into the lead. With only eight laps to go and the safety car out twice, Piastri’s mum took to X (Formerly Twitter) to express an honest desire in favor of her son.

She wrote- “Can we just have a safety car for 8 laps now?”

 

Following the tweet, Ocon and Perez crashed, bringing the safety car out for the third time. As Piastri’s race became much easier after the crash, he was not the only driver to benefit from it. Newly crowned three-time World Champion Max Verstappen also saw a major advantage fall his way.

Perez’s crash handed Verstappen the championship

Before the race began, Max Verstappen needed to outscore his teammate by three points to retain his driver’s title. However, the DNF by Perez meant the Mexican would score no points during the race, meaning Verstappen did not have to outscore him at all. As has been the case throughout the season, no other driver stood as a challenger against the Dutchman, and as such, Verstappen didn’t even need to finish the Sprint to retain his crown.

However, Verstappen, being Verstappen, pushed till the end, but the safety car meant he would not have enough time to overtake Piastri for the race win. Having secured P2 and, with it, the Driver’s Championship, Verstappen spoke to Nico Rosberg about his feelings as a three-time World Champion. Humble in his response, the Dutchman said he was “super proud” of his team and their job and said it has been an incredible year for them all. He added it was incredible to be a three-time champ, and it was “enjoyable” to be a part of a team like Red Bull. Speaking about not letting up, the 26-year-old admitted his team will continue to push and do the best they can.