Oscar Piastri, originally from Australia, drove the McLaren MCL38 in the Formula 1 World Championship race held in Shanghai, China, on April 21, 2024. During the race, Piastri’s car suffered damage equivalent to “four tenths” of a second due to contact under the Safety Car. Despite qualifying among the top five, Piastri finished in eighth place, over 42 seconds behind his teammate Lando Norris, who secured second place. Piastri struggled to keep up with Norris at the Shanghai International Circuit, and his chances were further hampered mid-race. As cars were preparing to resume the race on the 27th lap, Lance Stroll failed to brake and collided with Daniel Ricciardo, who in turn made contact with Piastri. The damage to Piastri’s car affected his performance and he couldn’t prevent Fernando Alonso from overtaking him. Piastri described the damage as significant and believed it explained a significant part of the deficit to Norris. Despite the setback, Piastri adapted to the damaged car and managed to hold off Lewis Hamilton. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella praised Piastri for his ability to drive with a car that had lost a significant amount of rear downforce, equivalent to losing up to four tenths of a second per lap. Stella acknowledged that Piastri’s result may not have been as remarkable as Norris’, but praised Piastri for his good performance in adapting to challenging conditions. McLaren was pleasantly surprised by Norris’ performance, surpassing both Ferrari drivers and finishing ahead of one of the Red Bull drivers. Looking ahead, Piastri hopes that with the planned upgrades for the MCL38 in Miami, McLaren can consistently challenge for podiums.
