Oscar Piastri has stated he will seek talks with the McLaren team after team orders were implemented during the Australian Grand Prix. Piastri was running in second place in the mid-point of the race, having moved ahead of Max Verstappen after the four-time champion made a mistake at Turn 13. Race leader Lando Norris and team-mate Piastri then bridged a healthy lead to Verstappen before Piastri was instructed to hold position. Several laps later, McLaren informed the drivers they were free to race with McLaren CEO Zak Brown later explaining it wanted to clear lapped traffic before letting their drivers engage in battle. However, a mistake from Piastri before McLaren's willingness to let them fight saw him drop back a handful of seconds. While Piastri acknowledged the difficult track conditions posed a threat to McLaren's 1-2 formation, the Australian asserted he will look to speak to the team to clarify the situation. "I think the race and the circumstances were pretty extreme," he told media including RacingNews365 . "We were approaching backmarkers, one dry line, not knowing if there was going to be rain to come. "So I'll speak to the team to try and understand better what the thinking was. But I think it's always clear that those kinds of calls can come in either direction."
Piastri rues 'unbelievable' podium loss
Piastri looked on course for a strong podium result as he had a similar pace to eventual race-winner Norris. However, his race was turned upside down when the field switched to the dry tyres under a safety car before heavy rain hit the circuit once again. Both Norris and Piastri slid off the track in the final sector with Piastri coming out worse and eventually crossing the line in ninth place. Reflecting on the costly mistake, Piastri said: “I tried to push a bit too much, I guess. “In those conditions, it’s very difficult to judge just how slippery it’s going to be. “I think from one lap to the next, it had really changed a lot and I could see Lando going off in front of me, but I was also already in the corner. “There wasn’t much I could do to slow myself down at that point. “Then once you’re in the gravel, in the grass, you obviously try to keep the car as straight as possible. “To get stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable sat in the car. I’ve only got myself to blame for being there.”
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