Oscar Piastri to ‘Learn’ from Turn 1 Loss to Max Verstappen at Emilia Romagna GP

Championship leader Oscar Piastri seemed all set to take his fifth win of the season at the Emilia Romagna GP. The Australian driver qualified on pole position and arguably had the quicker car against Max Verstappen. However, Piastri turned out to be no match to the reigning world champion at Imola right after the first corner. Now, the 24-year-old has made it clear that he has learnt his lesson.

At the race start, Max Verstappen managed to get a better getaway than pole sitter Oscar Piastri. The Dutch driver gained on his rival, with the two going side-by-side into Turn 1. It was Verstappen who emerged victorious in this battle and clinched the lead of the race. While Piastri continued to lose time to the 27-year-old from that point on.

The Australian driver opened up on the entire ordeal. Oscar Piastri admitted that things seemed to be under his control when Verstappen went for the move. However, the Dutchman’s brilliance became the decisive factor yet again. Additionally, Piastri asserted that the incident became a lesson for him for the next time he faces the 27-year-old on-track.

I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max. I’ll learn for next time clearly.

Oscar Piastri said in post-race press conference

Though, the McLaren star insisted that he wasn’t alarmed after losing the lead on the first corner. Rather, the lack of pace of the MCL39 came as a shock to the team with Oscar Piastri failing to catch up to the reigning world champion. Ultimately, Piastri finished in third place after an unsuccessful tire gamble during the late Safety Car.

But at that point, I wasn’t overly concerned to not be in the lead, but then our pace just wasn’t as strong as I expected. So that compounded that first corner.

Oscar Piastri explained

Oscar Piastri confesses ‘too early’ tire call

The Emilia Romagna GP saw different tire strategies across the pecking order. High tire degradation led to many adopting a two-stop while some managed to conserve their tires for a one-stop. The Virtual Safety Car and the Safety Car further made things more complicated with drivers like Charles Leclerc being unlucky with its timings.