On Piastri Stroll’s explanation: The others did not collide…

At the end of the first safety car phase of the Chinese Grand Prix, Lance Stroll collided with Daniel Ricciardo, whose car also hit Oscar Piastri’s McLaren, damaging its diffuser. Unlike his fellow Australian, the young Australian was able to continue the race, although with the damaged car he lost pace in the second half of the race.

Ricciardo, who was eliminated as a result of the collision (thereby failing his best opportunity to score points this year), spoke angrily after the race about Stroll’s maneuver, who later defended himself by saying that there was an “accordion effect” behind the safety car.

It is true that Fernando Alonso’s stronger braking forced the others to slow down before Stroll collided with Ricciardo. Piastri also heard this explanation and even accepted that it could be behind the incident, but at the same time he also poked fun at his Canadian opponent.. “Yeah… but the others didn’t collide. In such cases, in such bends, you have to expect this…” – He told.

Oscar Piastri (Photo: XPB)

“From then on, my race became very, very difficult. After waving, I looked at the car, the diffuser, and I’m pretty sure the engineers didn’t design it like that. No wonder I lost so much pace. It’s a shame, because I could have scored good points” – he added.

Piastri finished eighth with his damaged car, keeping Lewis Hamilton behind him. His boss praised him on several occasions for this, emphasizing that although the brand partner achieved a more spectacular result (Lando Norris came second), the Australian also excelled at the grand prix. “The diffuser was damaged and Oscar lost a lot of downforce. About four tenths of a second” he began.

“When we heard that, we weren’t too optimistic about scoring. But Oscar solved it. So, his result is not as noticeable as Lando’s, but he did a good job. He adapted and managed to keep Hamilton behind him. This is also a strong result” he pointed out.