Piastri was far from his best in Zandvoort, missing out on the podium as his teammate took victory in dominant fashion. A lacklustre qualifying was followed by a difficult race for the Australian, who failed to capitalise on the MCL38’s potential. Moving forward, Piastri wants to avoid any more missed opportunities.
Oscar Piastri frustrated after Dutch GP performance
Since McLaren introduced their first upgrades to the MCL38 in Miami, they have been the fastest team.
Their status as the benchmark in F1 is now undisputed, with the latest package brought to Zandvoort unlocking even more performance.
However, despite McLaren’s excellent performance, they have left a lot of points on the table. A combination of poor strategy and operational errors have proven costly for Piastri and Norris at various points in 2024.
With that said, Piastri’s frustrating weekend in Zandvoort was largely self-inflicted, as he admitted post-race:
“It’s a shame. I think just a pretty disappointing weekend, to be honest.
“Qualifying was not as strong as I needed it to be, and neither was the race,” Piastri explained.
“Obviously, the start was pretty poor for both of us. There’s something to review there for us as a team. Then, I couldn’t really make the progress that I needed.
“I just got stuck in the dirty air, and from that point onwards, it was a pretty painful afternoon. So definitely some things to look at.”
McLaren, Piastri and Norris under pressure to deliver
McLaren are now within touching distance of Red Bull in the team’s Championship. Even Verstappen’s advantage in the driver’s standings could be under threat if Norris maintains his momentum.
In this context, maximising results every weekend is essential. There is always the danger that rivals bridge the gap with upgrades of their own.
Ferrari are worth paying particular attention to this weekend, as updates are fitted to the SF-24 in Monza.
Should Fred Vasseur’s team return to their early-season form, they could become a headache for McLaren in the standings. Of course, Red Bull cannot be written off either.
This only raises the stakes for Norris and Piastri, who are now competing for the greatest prize in F1.
