“It didn’t change my result,just a bit clumsy. In the grand scheme of things,a slap on the wrist for myself.”
Piastri,after finishing fourth for the second race in succession,leaves Melbourne in fifth place in the championship standings,one point and one position ahead of Norris,who took his 14th career podium without a victory;now an F1 record.
“For me,it’s been a strong weekend. A couple of mistakes when it mattered which was a bit frustrating,but today has been a solid result,” Piastri said.
“I would have loved to have been one spot higher,but for the team I think it’s been an amazing weekend with gap to Ferrari being a lot smaller.
“I didn’t quite expect to have this kind of pace around here,so it’s been a positive start,a clean start to the year as well. I feel like I’ve made a step forward in some areas,but there’s still some work to go.”
Compatriot Daniel Ricciardo’s difficult start to 2024 continued on Sunday,the 34-year-old finishing 12th for RB to remain pointless from the opening three grands prix of the season.
Ricciardo,who started last after his best lap in qualifying was scrubbed for breaching track limits on Saturday,moved steadily forward in the race from 18th place,but was no match for teammate Yuki Tsunoda for the third straight weekend,the Japanese driver finishing eighth for RB’s first points of the year.
“I felt like the frustration I’d kind of put aside for today,” he said after starting from last place at his home race.
“I let that go last night. I didn’t end up breaking anything. I felt like some objects were going to get smashed after qualifying,but maybe there’s a bit of calm with age.
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“It’s nice there were moments in the race where I did have pace and I was able to show,OK,I can still get some good stints in there.”
Ricciardo’s fastest lap of the race,a 1:21.239 on lap 46,was just 0.105 slower than Tsunoda’s best single lap,an encouraging improvement after Tsunoda comprehensively had his measure in Bahrain and Jeddah.
“Obviously,the weekend I would’ve loved to have gone better,but I think we’ve just got to keep our eyes on the prize,” he said.
“It hasn’t been the best three races to start the season,for sure. I wouldn’t say there’s any panic. I would’ve loved this season to have started better,but we’ll just keep digging.”
Freelance journalist Matthew Clayton has been covering F1 for 25 years for several outlets,including redbull.com.
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