In the Montreal race, McLaren’s driver was fighting for the last spot on the podium against Mercedes’ George Russell and Lewis Hamilton. But, in the end, he finished fifth because he couldn’t keep them behind.
He thought he had a chance for a top three spot, but when he got behind the Mercedes cars, he realized they were very determined to move forward.
Piastri said, “It would have been really hard to keep them behind until the end, especially since I was the first car they had to pass. I did my best to stay ahead, but they were much faster on new tires.”
Mercedes made a big improvement in Canada with a new front wing on their W15 car, which they first used in the Monaco Grand Prix. But it was in Montreal that they really showed how fast they could be, especially in practice and early qualifying.
Piastri was asked if he was surprised by how fast Mercedes was. He said, “I knew they would be fast, but I didn’t expect them to be this fast. Lewis’s lap time in practice was really quick, and it made us wonder how they did it. Even in qualifying, George’s lap was much faster than mine. They were just really quick this weekend.”
During the race, Piastri tried hard to keep the Mercedes drivers behind. He had a small incident with Russell at the final chicane, where he forced him off the track.
Piastri said, “I need to see the incident again, but that corner is really tough to go side by side. You have to be brave to try to pass on the outside. In the end, Russell passed me anyway, so it didn’t change the result much. But I hope it was exciting for the fans.”