The Australian driver finished the race in the same position he started, but his impressive performance in qualifying allowed him to secure second place and earn 18 valuable points for the team he races for, based in Woking.
Charles Leclerc of Ferrari emerged victorious in his home race after failing to convert pole position into victory on two previous occasions. Piastri almost managed to overtake Leclerc on the first lap after the race restart, which was caused by a red flag incident involving Nico Hulkenberg and Sergio Perez.
During an interview with Sky Sports F1, Piastri spoke about the mentally challenging race, which had few pit stops and no overtaking among the top ten. He described it as a tough race and mentioned that the pace at the start was extremely slow. He also expressed his gratitude to the whole team for their hard work and described the weekend as great overall.
Securing a spot on the podium while driving a McLaren MCL38 with a livery honoring Ayrton Senna added meaning to the occasion. Piastri mentioned how special it was to achieve a podium wearing Senna’s colors, considering the legendary driver’s remarkable history on the streets of Monaco.
Piastri’s teammate, Lando Norris, almost missed out on a podium finish, but still earned 12 points for McLaren with a fourth place. Like Piastri, Norris spent much of the race trailing behind a Ferrari and couldn’t find enough of a gap to overtake the car ahead.
After achieving a surprising victory at the Miami Grand Prix and securing second place at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix, Norris seemed a bit disappointed not to step onto the podium this time. He mentioned how the red flag incident simplified things and made the race less exciting than usual in Monaco. Nevertheless, he acknowledged it was a good result for the team and expressed satisfaction with his performance.
Norris also reflected on the possibility of achieving a better result if he had started in a higher qualifying position. However, he emphasized that they did their best and believed the car had a good pace throughout the race. He concluded by stating that a fourth place and a second place in the previous races were still remarkable results for the team.
Both Piastri and Norris will be looking to continue their strong performances at the Canadian Grand Prix, which will take place at the Gilles Villeneuve Circuit on Sunday, June 9th.
