Piastri rues mistakes in Zandvoort 'baptism of fire'

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has conceded mistakes "didn't help our cause" as his F1 baptism of fire continued during a "chaotic" Dutch Grand Prix.

Rainfall midway through the opening lap at Zandvoort to trigger a flurry of pit stops for a switch from slicks to Intermediates, though McLaren opted to keep both Piastri and teammate Lando Norris on Softs in the hope the shower would quickly abate.

But continued rain left both drivers at the back of the field, though Piastri was the fastest of those who had braved the conditions when the track began to dry, setting purple sector after purple sector.

With another deluge prompting a crash for Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu and a 45-minute red flag period, Piastri was thrust into the battle for points, eventually finishing ninth.

"It was chaotic," the Australian told media including RacingNews365.com.

"To have two cars in the points and in one piece is a decent afternoon.

"Maybe a few opportunities that we could have done a bit more with, also a couple of mistakes from my side that certainly didn't help our cause.

"A lot to learn from. For me, we have had a lot of crazy races so it has been a bit of a baptism of fire in my rookie season, but all part of the learning curve."

I didn't myself

Rookie Piastri made his first major mistake in F1 when crashing out of second practice when losing the rear end of his MCL60 at the Turn 3 banking.

"I didn't help myself with the crash in FP2, every day has been a massive learning point," conceded Piastri.

"Ideally, I wouldn't have to put it in the wall to learn how much that would damage the rest of my weekend but I certainly know how much it does now.

"So a few things I wish I could have had again but overall, to get a couple of points on such a crazy afternoon is not too bad."