Piastri nearly saw Verstappen clinch the win: 'Didn't expect that'

18:33, 02 Jun 2025

A filmmaker with a soft spot for Ronnie Peterson, Gilles Villeneuve, Mika Hakkinen and above all, Tazio Nuvolari and Ayrton Senna, is also a diehard Formula One fan since the age of 4 (mid-90's). An avid researcher of the past of Grand Prix Racing since before it was even named F1, and with a thirst for knowledge of the ins and outs of the actuality of the sport, as well as for the technical aspects that define it, is a member of GPblog since 2023, where he has put his love of racing to good use.

Oscar Piastri won his fifth race of the season in Spain, which might not have been the way everything panned out, since the Aussie saw Red Bull nearly nab the win right from under him.

Whereas the preferred strategy by most teams was the two-stopper, Red Bull chose to put Max Verstappen on a three-stop race, somethin that surprised Piastri as he said to media like GPblog.

"It felt mostly under control. I think I wasn't really expecting Max to try a three-stop race, and I wasn't really expecting it to work… Well, almost work as well as it did either."

Piastri saw McLaren have a mighty weekend in Barcelona

There were some challenges, the Aussie highlights, though. "So there was a bit going on at that point definitely, and just with all the traffic and the blue flags as well, that made the race a bit more interesting than I wanted."

But aside from the odd run-in with a backmarker, it was a striaghforward Grand Prix for Piastri.

"I felt pretty much in control and could increase my pace when I needed to. So, it was a really strong race and a strong weekend. I think we did a really good job of managing everything in that race: sticking to our plan on strategy, not getting distracted by the three-stop, really good pit stops. Yeah, I think we just did a good job all around."

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	156
2	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	90
3	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	88
4	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	75
5	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	60
6	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	58
7	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	43
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	29
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	26
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	26
11	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	15
13	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	13
14	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
15	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
16	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
17	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	2
18	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	1
19	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	0
20	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
21	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0
22	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0

Piastri nearly saw Verstappen clinch the win: 'Didn't expect that'

Piastri saw McLaren have a mighty weekend in Barcelona

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