Piastri in blame game with Sainz after crashing out; Verstappen wins again at Belgium Grand Prix
By Alan Baldwin and Ian Chadband
Belgium: Oscar Piastri and Spanish rival Carlos Sainz have blamed each other for the first-lap clash that ruined the Australian’s Belgian Grand Prix hopes just 24 hours after his best day in Formula One.
After Melbourne rookie Piastri came runner-up in the sprint race – his first top-three finish in the F1 ranks with McLaren – his hopes of another big day were quickly scuppered on the opening lap of Sunday’s main race, which was won by championship leader Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. Australian Daniel Ricciardo, racing for AlphaTauri, finished 16th.
Piastri’s McLaren, which had started fifth on the grid, suffered damage on the first turn of the opening lap when he pushed up on the inside of the opening corner at La Source and came into contact with Sainz’s Ferrari.
The incident caused damage to both cars, and Piastri had to retire swiftly later in the lap, parking up at the side of the track, while Sainz limped on until the 23rd lap before calling it a day.
Both drivers were left suggesting the other was to blame for their race-ending contact.
Piastri, who made contact with the wall on the inside of the corner, originally told his engineer Tom Stallard over the team radio: “I don’t know what he (Sainz) was doing.
Oscar Piastri driving the (81) McLaren MCL60 Mercedes on track before retiring from the race.Credit:
“I was there and he just turned in like I didn’t exist.”
After the race finished, he told reporters: “I had a pretty good launch, I was getting alongside Carlos and then he kind of jinked to the inside a bit and I obviously had to get out of the brakes to not get hit.
“My nose was kind of there and at that point, it was too late to try and back out, so unfortunately I ended up in contact. A shame to end so early.”
But Sainz suggested it could have been the Australian’s “inexperience” that was responsible for the contact.
“I was on the attack with Lewis (Hamilton) into turn one, and I think I pretty much had the move done, and then I received a bit of contact on my rear-right,” said the Spaniard.
“If you want my honest opinion, I think it was a bit of a mistake by Oscar trying to go through side-by-side into turn one.
“If you look at the last seven, eight years, everyone who has tried that move, it’s never really worked and has generated a bit of a crash.
“So I don’t know if it was a bit of a lack of experience, a bit optimistic, but again a racing incident that cost us a race.”
Race winner Max Verstappen of the Netherlands celebrates on the podium. Credit:
It was Piastri’s first retirement since the opening race of his F1 career in Bahrain in March, as he now lies 11th in the drivers’ standings on 34 points.
But for Verstappen, the race was further proof of his dominance this F1 season and of the Red Bull team, which also had Sergio Perez finish second.
Verstappen’s eighth win in a row now leaves him eyeing a share of the all-time record for consecutive wins at the next race of the season in the Netherlands.
Verstappen, who started sixth after a five-place grid penalty, extended his championship lead over Perez to 125 points – effectively five races – after taking the chequered flag 22.3 seconds ahead of the Mexican.
“I knew we had a great car, it was just about surviving turn one,” said the double world champion, who has now won in Belgium for three years in a row, including from 14th on the grid last year.
“From there onwards we made the right overtakes and moves.”
He is heading for a third title with plenty of races to spare, the only real doubt being where he might seal it.
Charles Leclerc, who started on pole for Ferrari, completed the podium with Lewis Hamilton fourth and securing fastest lap for Mercedes.
Max Verstappen has won eight F1 races in a row, one short of the record for consecutive wins.Credit: REUTERS/Johanna Geron
The one-two was Red Bull’s fifth of the season and so comfortable for Verstappen that his feisty radio chats with race engineer Gianpiero Lambiase provided much more of a talking point.
They also showed his supreme confidence.
“I could also push on and we do another stop? A little bit of pit stop training,” Verstappen suggested with 14 laps remaining.
“No, not this time,” came the reply.
Lambiase had earlier told Verstappen sharply to “use your head a bit more” and questioned whether it had been sensible for the driver to push so hard on the tyres on his out lap after a stop.
“Max, please follow my instruction and trust it,” Lambiase told his driver as early as lap 12 after his word had been questioned.
Perez made an aggressive start from second on the grid, tucking in behind Leclerc through the tight, opening La Source corner and then blasting past on the Kemmel straight to seize the lead.
Verstappen was already up to fourth and chasing Hamilton.
He passed the seven-times world champion on lap six at Les Combes and pulled off a similar move on Leclerc three laps later at the same place to start the chase of Perez and a private Red Bull battle.
By lap 16, after both had pitted with Verstappen’s stop half a second faster, the Dutch driver was right on Perez’s tail and perfectly placed to blow past the Mexican on the Kemmel straight and pull away.
Perez never got another chance after that.
Reuters, AAP
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