“I’m not really that focused on the championship at the moment,” says Piastri

Oscar Piastri may have surrendered the Championship lead to his teammate Logan Sargeant, but says he was happy to simply finish the race, with the PREMA racer’s weekend continuing to be dogged by mechanical issues.

Piastri must have thought his Round 5 couldn’t get much worse after retiring from both Free Practice and Qualifying with the same issue on Friday, but must have felt a sense of déjà vu on Saturday morning, when his car shut down on the way to the grid.

Thankfully, his team did a good job to get him going, and he put on a decent recovery drive from 11th to seventh.

“It was pretty chaotic to be honest,” he said post-race. “I had the same issue again coming to the grid, where everything switched off, so to be honest, I wasn’t expecting to finish the race.

“I was trying to stay positive, but when it happens three sessions in a row, it makes you pretty sceptical about making it out there. I just had to focus on driving when the car was working and thankfully it stayed in one piece for the race.

“A massive thanks to the mechanics who managed to fix it. I still had a couple of issues during the race, with the dash flashing on and off and my DRS opening and closing, but I think P7 is quite good after yesterday, and puts us in a good spot for tomorrow.”

Sargeant’s victory means that for the first time this season, Piastri doesn’t lead the drivers’ standings, but given the issues he has suffered this weekend, he says he’s placing little importance in the Championship’s change-of-hands.

With four rounds to go, and just six points in it, he knows there is a long way to go until anything is decided.

“I’m not really that focused on the championship at the moment,” he explained. “It kind of looks like it is me and Logan out at the front for now, but there’s a good chance to get it back tomorrow.

“With all of the issues I’ve had this weekend, I am just trying to get as many points as I can and focus on my own stuff. I will try and make the most of tomorrow, and hopefully get a reverse grid win.”