Oscar Piastri got his elbows out to pass Lewis Hamilton on the final lap (Image: F1TV)
showed ‘no respect’ for while overtaking him on the final lap of the , according to former driver David Coulthard. Piastri crossed the finish line in ninth place after passing Hamilton with a daring move around the outside of his rival.
The driver was initially fighting for the lead but fell away from the battle after suffering a mishap in the wet conditions. Just before he was supposed to pit for intermediate tyres, he lost traction and skidded off the circuit before spinning on the grass at the penultimate corner. It saw him tumble down the order, but he managed to salvage two championship points by recovering to finish ninth.
The McLaren driver salvaged a ninth-placed finish with the daring manoeuvre on Hamilton (Image: F1TV)
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Piastri made up the last of those positions with a brilliant move on Hamilton, going around the outside at high speed on the very last lap.
Coulthard was commentating on the race for F1TV and noted that Piastri displayed total fearlessness by attempting the move. He added that it showed the Aussie viewed Hamilton no differently than any other driver in spite of his achievements in the sport.
After watching an on-board replay of the bold manoeuvre, Coulthard said: “That is commitment, that is bravery, that is anger, that is frustration, and that is no respect for a seven-time world champion.”
Despite recovering well to finish in the points, Piastri was left heartbroken by the mistake which ruined his hopes of a stunning victory at his home Grand Prix.
“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.
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“I could see Lando going off in front of me, but I was also already in the corner, basically, so 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.
“And then obviously to get stuck in the grass like that was pretty unbelievable, sat in the car, but I’ve only got myself to blame for being there.”
Hamilton, meanwhile, finished 10th and later conceded that his debut ‘went a lot worse’ than expected. He appeared to blame the car, explaining that it was difficult to drive in the ever-changing conditions.
“The car was really, really hard to drive today,” . “For me, I’m just grateful I kept it out of the wall because that’s where it wanted to go most of the time.
“A lot to take from it and just getting acclimatised with the new power unit in the wet conditions. The settings it requires are different, and a different way of driving and a different set-up on the steering wheel.”