The Belgian GP weekend was turning out to be a memorable one for Oscar Piastri. With this being his first time out at Spa-Francorchamps in a Formula 1 car, his performance had been mighty impressive throughout the weekend leading up to the race on Sunday. Coming into the weekend, he had hoped for his first F1 podium. And because of his performance leading up to the race, he got his first top-three finish during the Sprint. But if there’s one word that could describe Piastri’s weekend, it would be “rollercoaster.” And following the highs of fighting at the front, his lows, unfortunately, came during Sunday’s race at the hands of Carlos Sainz.

While Piastri would’ve loved nothing more than to emulate his Sprint result on Sunday, it wasn’t meant to be. Starting fifth on the grid behind Sainz, Piastri got a pretty good start and seemed to have stayed ahead of Max Verstappen alongside him. That is until Sainz locked up into Turn 1 and squeezed Piastri into the wall. As a result, Piastri had terminal damage to his car and was forced to retire on Lap 2.

With the Belgian GP being the final race before 2023’s annual summer break, McLaren would’ve wanted to continue its good run of form going into it. While Lando Norris scored some points despite the MCL60’s high downforce setup, it was a missed opportunity for Piastri. Because of how he’s performed all weekend, another top 5 finish was most likely in the cards for him. 

But he didn’t take his early exit from the race too much to heart. Instead, he found a silver lining. After heading back to the garage, he posted a picture on Instagram with his engineers and captioned it, “The highs and lows of Spa. Early summer holiday for me.“ As much as he would’ve loved to finish the race, he made the most out of the situation. Regardless, he can be proud of his performance, especially on Saturday—a performance he credited to a former McLaren driver.

Read More: After Losing Out to Max Verstappen, Oscar Piastri Agonizingly Rules McLaren Out of Top Flight Competition

Oscar Piastri credited his fearless driving in Spa to James Hunt

Until Saturday, Piastri was having a very good outing in Spa. With the MCL60 performing wonders in the wet conditions and his confidence in his car and himself, he looked like he had the upper hand on almost everyone in the field. And he proved that during Saturday’s Sprint Shootout and in the Sprint, where he qualified second and finished second. 

Considering this was his first outing in Spa as an F1 driver, he looked fearless out there, testing the track and his car’s limit on every lap. So after he qualified on the front row for the Sprint just 0.011s off Verstappen, he was asked how he was so good. He nonchalantly replied, “I drove James Hunt’s car last weekend, so, big b*lls,” referring to his outing in the M26 at the Goodwood Festival of Speed.

Have Oscar Piastri’s performances in the first half of the season impressed you?

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