Piastri ‘proud’ to bounce back with victory in Spain

Oscar Piastri was left feeling “proud” of his victory in the Spanish Grand Prix, with the Australian managing the different phases of the race – including a dramatic restart following a late Safety Car – to seal his fifth win of the season so far.

After building an early lead via a strong start from pole position, Piastri briefly lost P1 to Max Verstappen amid the first round of pit stops – but when the Dutchman pitted early for the second of his planned three-stop strategy, the McLaren driver returned to the top.

READ MORE: Piastri leads McLaren 1-2 from Norris in Spanish GP amid late-race drama for Verstappen and Russell

There were further challenges to come, however, as a Safety Car was deployed in the latter stages owing to Mercedes’ Kimi Antonelli pulling off track with a mechanical issue, requiring Piastri to manage to restart ahead of a six-lap dash to the finish.

The championship leader executed this well and crossed the line 2.471s clear of team mate Lando Norris to lead a McLaren 1-2, marking a return to the top step of the podium after two races without a victory.

Piastri kept his cool to seal a fifth win of the season so far in Spain

In terms of whether he had handled the 66-lap encounter perfectly, Piastri commented: “More or less, I guess. Obviously a great start and a good first stint meant that I could set up the rest of the race a bit easier.

“Getting through all the traffic was really tough, and the dirty air from three seconds, four seconds back starts already to make a big difference.

AS IT HAPPENED: Piastri wins Spanish GP ahead of Norris as Verstappen and Russell make contact late on

“I feel like it was difficult to get through that at points, but I feel like when I needed to push and unleash the pace then I could do a good job, and obviously the Safety Car at the end, I feel like I managed that pretty well and then I knew I had the pace. A good weekend.”

Reflecting further on getting back to winning ways at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Piastri said: “It was a bit of a surprise to see Max try a three-stop and it nearly worked for him but, yeah, it was a great weekend overall.

“I think the pace was really good, we could turn it on when we needed to. Just very proud of the work we’ve done this weekend. It wasn’t the best first practice, and then we got our stuff together. It’s a nice way to bounce back from Monaco so it’s been a superb weekend.”