After an encouraging Qualifying display on Saturday evening at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, Oscar Piastri’s hopes of a first top ten finish of his FIA Formula 1 World Championship career was high, but first lap contact with Pierre Gasly ended his chances.
The McLaren F1 Team driver required a pit lane visit at the end of the opening tour of the track after he and BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Gasly collided at turn three, with the layout of the circuit not helping either driver in the contact.
Piastri did not pit again after that, making one sit of hard tyres last until the chequered flag, and he was able to take the chequered flag fifteenth after a late race pass on Williams Racing’s Logan Sargeant.
“Obviously it’s not the day we were looking for, there was contact at the beginning where I lost part of my front wing,” said Piastri. “I’m not sure if there was anything I could have done really, I was squeezed a little bit.
“There was some good racing at the end, which was nice and obviously I did a long stint on the Hards, so it’s good to get a bit of learning for the tyres but overall, it’s not what we were looking for tonight.”
“It was difficult to achieve anything more than what we did” – Lando Norris
Team-mate Lando Norris was also forced to pit for a new front wing on lap two, the Briton ironically hitting the debris from Piastri’s front wing that broke his own.
From there on, Norris was always fighting a losing cause, and despite a pit stop under the safety car for a fresh set of tyres, he did not have any kind of pace to challenge for a first top ten finish of the season, the Briton ending seventeenth on the road.
“Tough race, we were very unlucky today,” said Norris. “I had a really good start but then got hit with debris which damaged my front wing.
“We did our best to try to come out with something, but no luck was on our side. We did the best job we could, working as a team, but it was difficult to achieve anything more than what we did.
“So, it’s tough, but now our focus is on Australia where we hope to do a better job.”
Lando Norris ended only seventeenth in Saudi Arabia – Credit: Sam Bloxham / LAT Images