Aussie F1 star Oscar Piastri says Spanish GP victory was just what he needed as he wins over Norris

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Aussie F1 star Oscar Piastri says Spanish GP victory was just what he needed as he wins over Norris

Australia’s Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri admits winning the Spanish Grand Prix was just what he needed after losing out to McLaren teammate Lando Norris over the previous two weekends.

The victory, the seventh of the 24-year-old’s career, stretched Piastri’s lead over second-placed Norris to 10 points after the Briton reduced it to three with his triumph in Monaco last Sunday.

“It’s been a great year and this weekend’s been exactly the kind of weekend I was looking for,” said the 24-year-old Melburnian after his fifth win in nine races on Sunday.

“We executed everything we needed to when it counted and that’s all you can ask for. The team gave me a great car once again. It’s a lot of fun winning races at the moment.”

Norris also finished second at Imola, the race before Monaco won by Red Bull’s Max Verstappen, with Piastri third.

Piastri led from pole position in Spain, the top slot on the grid secured by the biggest margin of the year so far, after also topping the practice times at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“It’s definitely up there,” Piastri said when asked whether it was his strongest yet in Formula One.

“I don’t know if it’s the best one, but certainly it’s been a strong one. You know, it’s pretty hard to complain with the results we’ve had this weekend.

“Just the effort that’s gone in, and analysing some of the things from last week that we could have done better – I think we turned it around very nicely and got back to the form we wanted to be on.

“I think we did a really good job of managing everything, sticking to our plan on strategy, not getting distracted by the three-stop, really good pit stops. Yeah, I think we just did a good job all around.”

Norris, winner of two races this year so far, said he did not feel he had lost anything.

“I think Oscar drove a very good race today and had a good day yesterday. I had the pace to go with him but not enough to try and catch up and put him under threat,” he said.

Meanwhile, asked if there are any tracks left where McLaren won’t be as dominant this season, Piastri is keeping his cards to his chest.

“I have no idea. I don’t know,” Piastri added.

“I think Imola, we probably expected to be a bit quicker than we were, and we got beaten. I don’t know. I think this weekend, we were probably a bit quicker than we expected compared to Red Bull.

“I think we thought they would be a really genuine threat this weekend. You know, I think they were with us in the race, but more through strategy, I guess, than pure pace. But it seemed like we had a little bit of an edge over them. So, I don’t know.

“There will be other tracks where our competitors get closer. There’s probably going to be some where they’re further away. I hope there’s more where they’re further away than closer.”

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