Piastri admits he doesn’t ‘have any answers’ over lack of pace in ‘disappointing’ Dutch Grand Prix

Oscar Piastri has admitted that he doesn’t “have any answers” at the moment after being surprised by his lack of pace in the Dutch Grand Prix, a race he labelled as “disappointing” following his P6 finish.

The event had initially started well for Piastri, who pulled off an impressive overtake on Mercedes’ George Russell at the restart having switched to the hard tyres during the stoppage.

However, a slow pit stop appeared to undo the Australian’s race and from there he slipped backwards, eventually being overtaken by both Ferraris before crossing the line in a lonely sixth place.

Asked to give his take on how the race had gone, Piastri told Sky Sports F1: “Disappointing, obviously. I think the first lap was good, or after the red flag was good, and then the first stint felt okay, and then after that I had nothing.

“I don’t know why – plenty to look into.”

The 25-year-old went on to identify “the pace” as the main issue, adding: “I don’t really have any more answers than that at the moment.”

Piastri’s day marked a contrast to that of his McLaren team mate Lando Norris, who converted his pole position into a second consecutive Grand Prix victory.

Pushed on whether the fact that the team are bringing successful upgrades has given him hope that things will move forward for him, the nine-time race winner responded: “Yeah, definitely, I hope so, but at the moment it’s been pretty challenging.”

In a separate interview, Piastri answered “yes” when asked if he had been surprised by his lack of pace given the performance of Norris in Zandvoort, but conceded that he “unfortunately” did not have any ideas as to why it had happened.

Team Principal Andrea Stella remarked that Piastri’s final result was “not a fair reflection of the competitiveness he demonstrated throughout the weekend”, with the Italian confident that there is “more potential that we can extract”.