Piastri details "awkward" meeting with irritated Hamilton: 'That was tense'
F1 News
Oscar Piastri has described an "awkward" encounter with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in the cooldown room after the Belgian Grand Prix. Mercedes had (at the time) secured their first one-two finish since 2022, but the seven-time World Champion was irritated because Russell had been placed on the better strategy. Piastri recalls the tension in the cooldown room.
Drivers who finish in the top three positions enter the cooldown room after a Formula 1 race to relax before the podium celebrations. Recently, the drivers have been shown highlights, and they often talk about the race together. Piastri, who now has nine podiums in his F1 career, has already been involved in an awkward encounter.
“The most awkward cooldown room...I've not been in that many, but the most awkward one was after Spa, where George and Lewis finished second," Piastri recalled to the UK's Cosmopolitan.
Why did Piastri have an awkward encounter with Hamilton?
Hamilton was clearly irritated with Mercedes' decision during the Belgian Grand Prix. He finished second behind his teammate George Russell, who was placed on a one-stop. Hamilton claims he suggested similar on the radio but pitted when he didn't want to.
Hamilton closed on Russell in the final laps of the race. With a tyre advantage, the seven-time World Champion was favourite to make the overtake but brilliant defence from Russell ensured the younger Brit stayed ahead. Russell completed an extremely long stint on his tyres and Hamilton was left questioning why he didn't get moved to a one-stop. Piastri felt the tension himself.
"It was tense. Lewis drove a great race. In a lot of circumstances, he should have won that race pretty comfortably so I understood exactly how he was feeling at that point. I could very much sense that Lewis did not want to be...he wasn't in a chatty mood so I just watched and looked at the highlights in silence and kept to myself," Piastri added.
Ultimately, Hamilton was awarded the race victory because Russell was later disqualified. This lifted Piastri into second place.
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13 October 2024
