Oscar Piastri was as surprised as anyone to be sat in the cool down room without Max Verstappen for company after the Belgian Grand Prix.
Starting 11th on the grid because of an engine penalty, Verstappen faced an uphill battle but his record at Spa-Francorchamps, and the fact he outqualified everyone else by more than half-a-second on Saturday, had everyone convinced he would be fighting for victory anyway.
But that wasn’t the case. He cut through some of the traffic to finish fifth on the road – fourth in the end after original winner George Russell was disqualified – which meant he wasn’t present in the cool down room which is accessed only by those waiting to appear in the podium ceremony.
At first, Piastri and Lewis Hamilton were the only ones present, with Russell still celebrating with Mercedes colleagues. And, as the seven-time champion wiped his face with a towel, the McLaren driver started the conversation.
He said: “I thought Max was going to be a bit quicker than that.” Hamilton replied by enquiring where Verstappen had finished in the race, before Russell entered the room with a similar comment to Piastri’s and said: “Surprised the Red Bulls didn’t come through more.”
Another podium for Piastri, on the back of his maiden win in Budapest a week earlier, marked a strong end to the first half of his season. The 23-year-old has come into his own in his sophomore season on the grid, providing a stern test for not only team-mate Lando Norris but also the rest of his rivals.
And after collecting his trophy he spoke about how pleased he is with his own personal progression. Piastri said: “Definitely, the last few weeks have been very strong from my side. I think, honestly, the whole season has been pretty good.
A couple of weekends in the middle of the year were a bit tricky. Japan and China mainly were pretty tough and, obviously, Barcelona. But I feel like all the other races have been quite strong. Just, we’ve had a lot of things that that haven’t been going our way, in some ways.
“Whether it’s interesting track limit penalties or crashes or mistakes, there’s always kind of been just things and I feel like the last few weekends I have been able to tidy it up. So, I feel like I’ve taken a step forward from last year, definitely.
“I think in these tricky races like this, last year I was struggling in a race like this. I feel like I’ve made good progress and, obviously, the car is very quick as well. So yeah, I feel like I’m gaining some nice momentum, which is good… I just keep trying to build on it, but I feel like I’m in a strong place.”
