Oscar Piastri reveals 'scary' George Russell encounter after spin

Oscar Piastri has revealed he had a "scary" moment avoiding George Russell after the Mercedes driver spun on his way out of the pits during the São Paulo Grand Prix.

Russell lost the rear of his car exiting the pit lane on lap 16, after switching from intermediate tyres to slicks as the track began to dry.

Although Russell avoided damaging his W17, it left him stranded as he tried navigating his way out of his perilous position, dropping him from fourth to eighth as Isack Hadjar, Liam Lawson and McLaren's Piastri all got by.

Piastri, who finished sixth at Interlagos, described the moment he came across Russell's car blocking his path.

"Scary!" he said. "Obviously, it was stuck in the middle of the road, so it didn't make things easy at all. But glad I could have avoided him."

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Piastri - 'It's not going to be easy'

The incident came on a weekend that started badly for Piastri, who was eliminated in Q2 after a late call to switch to intermediates left him short of tyre temperature and track time before a red flag, caused by Rafael Camara, ended the session early.

The Australian ultimately started from 10th after penalties for other drivers promoted him up the grid.

But Piastri said the race itself offered reason for encouragement as McLaren continues its push to catch Red Bull in the constructors' standings.

"It [the pace] was pretty good to be honest," he said. "I think after the first 10 laps or so, things felt pretty good. Well, honestly, for the rest of the race, the pace was pretty good.

"We just need to work on how we improve in qualifying, and also some of the decisions we made weren't maybe the best.

"But honestly, it's nice to be able to say we were quick in a large part of the race.

"And we learnt a lot this weekend about the car and certain things. Ultimately, everyone is still learning a lot about these cars and especially the power units.

"But I think the car performance took a step forward, so hopefully that keeps going."

McLaren sits 17 points behind Red Bull in the battle for third in the constructors' championship with three races remaining, with Piastri confident the Max Verstappen-led team can be overhauled.

Asked what the goal was for the concluding triple header, he replied: "Just keep learning and ultimately try and beat Red Bull in the constructors' championship. That's the big thing.

"It's not going to be an easy task, for sure, but I think it's possible. The car took a step forward this weekend, so hopefully that keeps going for the last three races."