Oscar Piastri makes his feelings known about McLaren's mid-race rebuke for 'pushing the boundaries'

Oscar Piastri didn't have any qualms about McLaren's mid-race rebuke during his battle with Lando Norris in the F1 Austrian GP. The race was an exciting one, and one of the major reasons for that was how the Woking-based squad gave both drivers complete free rein when it came to battling against each other.

On Saturday in qualifying, Lando Norris blitzed the entire field and was around half a second faster than the second-best time, which was put together by Charles Leclerc. It was expected that on Sunday, the British driver should have an edge over the chasing pack, including his teammate Oscar Piastri.

The Australian, however, had other ideas. The championship leader dispatched Charles Leclerc into turn 1 and from that point onwards started his onslaught on Lando Norris, where he pressured him every lap. The driver was within the DRS range of his teammate and making life very uncomfortable for him.

At one point, Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris even switched positions, where the move by the Australian was neutralized by the British driver soon after. There was, however, a moment in turn 4 where Piastri locked his tires and almost rammed into the side of Norris.

The move led to a rebuke mid-race from McLaren, where the team informed the driver that the move was over the limit. When questioned about it during the post-race press conference, Piastri felt that the rebuke was justified. He said,

“I thought it was a fair comment. Locking up and missing the back of your team-mate by not a lot is certainly pushing the boundaries. So, even if I hadn't been told anything, I didn't think it was a wise decision to try that one again. So, a fair comment.”

Oscar Piastri looks back at the race and the battle with Lando Norris

After the first round of pit stops, Oscar Piastri fell back from Lando Norris as he rejoined around 6 seconds back from the leader. From that point onwards, the driver tried to close the gap to the Brit and was only a second behind by the end of the race. He was, however, unable to mount a challenge on his teammate after the first stint.

Oscar Piastri was questioned after the race by Davide Valsecchi on how his race went, to which he said,

“Intense. I hope it was good watching, because it was pretty hard work from the car. I tried my absolute best and probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead momentarily."

He added,

“It was a good battle. A bit on the edge at times and probably pushed the limits a bit far. But it was a good race. That's what we're here to do, try and race each other and try and fight for wins. And that's what we did today. It was close for me, but not quite enough.”

Oscar Piastri still continues to lead the championship from Lando Norris, but the gap has shrunk by 7 points with the British driver picking up a win. The next race is in Silverstone, Lando's home race, and it would be interesting to see how the two fare against each other.

Edited by Charanjot Singh Kohli