"Still a lot of laps left to go": Piastri pushes on despite Vegas frustration
- Kavi Khandelwal
- 1 hour ago
- 2 min read
Written by Kavi Khandelwal
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri finished the 2025 Las Vegas Grand Prix in P4, narrowly missing out on a podium after starting from the third row in P5.
Despite benefitting from a rival's penalty to secure the fourth spot, the Australian was left with a palpable sense of disappointment, feeling a much stronger result was possible, especially as the outcome allowed his teammate and main title rival, Lando Norris, to extend his championship lead.
"I don't really know what to think, to be honest," Piastri confessed immediately after the race.
The start of the race immediately put the Australian on the back foot. The first lap was eventful, to say the least, as he lost two places, dropping to seventh after he was dealt a glancing blow from contact with Liam Lawson's Racing Bulls at the opening turn.
Piastri had to battle to recover from the early skirmish, acknowledging that the initial chaos, coupled with subsequent errors, made his afternoon much harder: "And then a couple of mistakes after that, which didn't help."
His race quickly became a story of recovery, with the McLaren strategy team proving instrumental in salvaging a strong points haul. Piastri came in on Lap 22, executing a successful undercut on rivals like Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. "The team did a really good job in getting our race back on track with strategy," he noted, calling that decisive call "probably the highlight of the race."
However, the Australian's forward progress was ultimately stymied by congestion in the latter stages. After climbing back up the order, Piastri found himself stuck behind the Mercedes of Kimi Antonelli, who had charged from P17 but was carrying a five-second penalty for a false start.
Piastri could not find a way past the fast-moving Mercedes. "Then, obviously, I got stuck behind Kimi, got close on one lap and lost all grip when I tried to get alongside. And then I couldn't get close enough again."
This frustration defined his immediate feeling at the chequered flag. "So that made life pretty tough. But, yeah, a bit of a feeling of more on the table."
The result, elevated to P4 only after Antonelli served his penalty, meant that Piastri's teammate Norris (who finished P2) extended the championship gap to 30 points with only two races and a Sprint remaining.
The gravity of the situation was not lost on Piastri, who now faces an uphill battle to secure the title. "Still, obviously, comfortably in the Championship fight. It's just obviously the gap is still quite big heading to Qatar."
The Australian conceded the championship is now out of his immediate control, but he remains committed to maximizing every remaining opportunity, starting with the Qatar Grand Prix.
"Yeah, I mean, it is what it is, I think. I'm going to try my best, obviously, for the next two races and try and put myself in the best position possible. There's still a lot of laps left to go. A lot can still happen. But I need to make sure that I'm in the best position to capitalise if that happens. That's all I can do now. So I'll set my sights on that and see how we go."
