Oscar Piastri found positives in the 2023 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix despite finishing only in P6 behind his teammate Lando Norris.
Oscar Piastri finished the race at Yas Marina Circuit in P6 after starting from P3. The Australian driver first lost position to his teammate Lando Norris, then to George Russell, and finally to Sergio Perez.
The Australian driver commented on the battle with his teammate that happened on lap four when he got overtaken on the straight going into turn six. He told the media:
"We were free to race and I think at that point, he [Norris] had a bit more pace and could attack Charles and try and help us out."
While it seemed at the beginning that two McLarens might have a pace to challenge for the podium, their best efforts were not enough to score a podium in the end.
"But in the end, he didn't have enough to get Charles and I didn't have enough to keep George behind it. We struggled a bit with both of us, maybe I would have done a few things differently if I had that race again,"
On the other hand, the 22-year-old pointed towards the positive side of the race. He had at least one unfortunate collision in every single race from Austin and was able to end the bad streak in the last race of the season.
"It was nice to just have a clean race. It's been a while since I've had a race without contact or something crazy going on. Maybe not as strong as we would have liked as a team. My first and second stint weren't my best stints of the year, but I think the final stint looks quite strong."
McLaren drivers might have hoped to finish the season on a high by scoring the podium, but even P5 and P6 were more than enough to at least secure fourth place in the Constructors' Championship for their team. Piastri added:
"So nice to end it on a decent note, but we know that our car still weak in a few areas and I think this track exposed that in different places."
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