Oscar Piastri on Sunday put Australia on top of the Formula One world championship for the first time since 2010, but the McLaren driver said he was still a long way from where he wanted to be despite his Saudi Arabian Grand Prix victory.
As he told reporters after the barrage of celebration fireworks had subsided over the Red Sea and the business of packing up had begun in the paddock, there was a lot more winning to do.
“I’m not that bothered by the fact that I’m leading the championship, but I’m proud of the work and the reasons behind why we’re leading the championship,” he said with his usual calm.
Photo: AP
“Melbourne wasn’t a great start to the year in terms of results, but from the moment I’ve hit the track this season, I felt like I’ve been in a good place,” he said.
Piastri, who started the season with ninth in his home race after spinning off, was already the first repeat winner of the season and Sunday’s success made him the first to take back-to-back victories.
He has now won three of the five races and leads teammate Lando Norris by 10 points, after starting the evening three behind.
The last Australian to lead the championship was Mark Webber, now the 24-year-old Melburnian’s manager, at Red Bull in 2010.
Meanwhile, four-time world champion Max Verstappen, who started on pole and finished second for Red Bull, bit his tongue to stay out of trouble after clearly disagreeing with stewards over a costly five-second penalty for a first corner incident.
He and Piastri raced into the corner, with Verstappen running wide and staying ahead before being penalized for leaving the track and gaining an advantage.
Team principal Christian Horner said the penalty was harsh, producing a photograph for reporters to back up his argument.
“I don’t know where Max was supposed to go at that first corner. We’ve lost the race by 2.8 seconds, so it’s tough,” he said.
Verstappen was reluctant to talk about it.
“Start happened, Turn One happened, and suddenly it was lap 50. It just all went super-fast,” he said when asked for his take on the start. “The problem is that I cannot share my opinion about it, because I might get penalized also, so it’s better not to speak about it.”
Verstappen was ordered to do “work of public interest” after swearing during a Singapore Grand Prix news conference in September last year.
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