Oscar Piastri on why he dedicated Belgian GP win to his grandfather

McLaren Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri joked that he may arrange for one of his family members to be with him during the rest of the races this season after his grandfather watched him take the Belgian Grand Prix victory from the track.

The Australian driver managed to take the lead from his McLaren team-mate Lando Norris after the rolling start on lap five and maintained the lead for the remainder of the race.

Piastri’s grandfather was present at the race – his first time watching a race in person outside of Australia – and he dedicated the win to him.

“It’s the first race outside of Australia that he’s come to,” Piastri explained to the media in the post-race press conference. “One of my sisters, in Spain, that was her first race outside of Australia, and that was a good weekend. Now my grandfather the same, so maybe I need to get my family members one by one for the rest of the races. I didn’t know. It seemed like the best person to dedicate it to. It’s a nice thing to do.”

Discussing the overtake, the McLaren driver described it as “very lively” from behind the wheel.

“I knew that Lap 1 was going to be probably my best chance of winning the race. I got a good exit out of Turn 1 and lifted as little as I dared through Eau Rouge and that was enough.”

Oscar Piastri, McLaren

Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images

Piastri pulled off a one-stop race after switching from intermediates to medium tyres and nursing them until the end of the race to fend off Norris on the hard compound tyre.

“The rest of the race we managed really well. Struggling a little bit at the end, maybe the medium wasn’t the best for the last five or six laps, but we had it mostly under control, which is what I wanted.

“I was pretty disappointed with myself after yesterday but turns out starting second at Spa is not too bad after all.”

Piastri’s win extended his lead in the drivers’ standings over Norris to 16 points.

Photos from Belgian GP – Race