Piastri: I don't think we could have done much more

It wasn't McLaren's best Formula 1 weekend at Spa-Francorchamps, as they Lando Norris and Piastri qualified fifth and sixth respectively but both drivers started the race one position up the order after Max Verstappen lost his pole position start due to a ten-place grid penalty for taking a fifth Internal Combustion Engine.

On a weekend, when the Woking team should've capitalized on Verstappen's penalty, the failed to do so, especially as Norris finished behind Verstappen while Piastri who is not a threat to the Dutchman in the 2024 F1 Drivers' Championship finished on the podium.

However, Piastri insisted on seeing the positives after his race on Sunday, and said in McLaren's race report: "I'm happy with the result.

"I think we managed the race very well and I don't think we could have done much more today. We did a lot of things right and gave ourselves the best opportunities, but in the end, it wasn't quite enough.

"It's been a really good couple of weeks for myself and the whole team. We've scored a lot of points and made inroads again today into Red Bull's lead at the top of the Constructors' Championship. That's a big positive going into the summer break.

"I think everyone's looking forward to it – I know I am – and having a chance to relax before coming back stronger in the second half," the Australian concluded.

Norris ruined his own race after losing position at the start, he commented: "A disappointing race today. I went off in Turn 1 and it cost me a good position, which was difficult to recover with the lack of overtaking opportunities.

"The pace of the car was good, and the team have done a great job so far this season. We'll go into the break, reset, and come back stronger to fight at the front in Zandvoort next month," he added.

McLaren Team Principle Andrea Stella reflected on his team's first half of the season as F1 entered the summer break, he said: "We close the first part of the season with another tight and great race for Formula 1, with multiple cars in contention for the victory until the last lap.

"Today, tyre degradation was lower than projected, and overtaking was more difficult than anticipated, which made the race interesting in terms of an option for a one-stop strategy.

"For us, with the positions we lost at the start with Lando, and the fact that we didn't qualify ahead on the grid yesterday, it was always going to be a bit difficult to recover.

"Oscar drove a very determined race," the Italian added. "I think it's quite impressive that he managed to be there at the end. The race was very clean, except for the last stop where he was long in the pit box, and we lost time.

"For Lando, it was even more difficult to recover, because he was in traffic for most of the race, and even if we stretched the first stint, there wasn't much to gain in having fresher tyres for the following part of the race.

"Overall, a very strong first part of the season for McLaren. We are even closer to the top in terms of Constructors' Championship, and we look forward to the second part of the season," Stella concluded.

McLaren closed in on Red Bull in the 2024 F1 Constructors' Championship, the gap now down to 42 points.