Oscar Piastri fired a defiant message after winning the Dutch Grand Prix, stressing that he "was in control" even without Lando Norris' shock retirement.
Piastri converted pole position into a seventh victory of the season at Zandvoort, with his championship lead having increased to 34 points following Norris' retirement.
Norris suffered a late power unit failure whilst in second behind his team-mate, causing the major increase in Piastri's title advantage.
Despite Norris having been in second for the majority of the first race since the F1 summer break, Piastri was rarely threatened.
The 24-year-old's lead was consistently around three seconds, while he also managed multiple safety car restarts strongly.
It marked a very different grand prix for the Australian compared to last year's Dutch GP, where he finished 27 seconds behind Norris in fourth.
"Yeah, I controlled the race when I needed to," said Piastri. "And, you know, obviously it was incredibly unfortunate for Lando at the end.
"But yeah, I felt like I was in control of that one, and just use the pace when I needed to. And yeah, that was a bit of a different race to 12 months ago.
"So very happy with all the work we've done to try and improve around here, and very satisfied to come out on top."
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