![\"Piastri](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/XPB_1426950_HiRes.jpg\")
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri clashes with Charles Leclerc during the Belgian GP. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
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\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri clashes with Charles Leclerc during the Belgian GP. Image: XPB Images<\/p>\n
\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t The Australian was pressuring Leclerc for third during the opening stint when the pair made contact at Les Combes, with part of Piastri\u2019s car breaking away in the incident and causing floor damage to his car.<\/p>\n Leclerc was investigated by the stewards but escaped punishment, leaving Piastri surprised after he felt there was nowhere for him to go as he attempted the move.<\/p>\n \u201cI lost the side board thing. Okay, maybe I shouldn\u2019t call it a sideboard, that\u2019s something you put in your hallway! But I lost parts of my car,\u201d Piastri told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd I don\u2019t know where I was supposed to go. So I was equally surprised that nothing came.<\/p>\n \u201cBut obviously it\u2019s small contact which had big consequences for me. Could have had very big consequences for both of us. But it is what it is.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren later confirmed the contact had cost Piastri floor performance, contributing to balance problems and increased tyre degradation through the remainder of the race.<\/p>\n Complete our motor oil survey for your chance to win 1 of 5 Supercheap Auto $100 gift cards. Piastri remained in the fight near the front and spent much of the afternoon battling Leclerc, Lewis Hamilton and teammate Lando Norris, but was unable to progress beyond fifth on the road.<\/p>\n He said the damage made the car particularly difficult during the opening stint before McLaren was able to partly compensate following his pit stop.<\/p>\n Whoa! \ud83d\ude2e<\/p>\n Contact between Leclerc and Piastri in the battle for P3 \ud83d\udca5#F1<\/a> #BelgianGP<\/a> | LAP 8\/44 pic.twitter.com\/UDl5E0DXS6<\/a><\/p>\n \u2014 Formula 1 (@F1) July 19, 2026<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cI think from then on the race was definitely more difficult,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThe balance suffered quite a lot for the first stint after that, and then we were able to compensate a bit in the second stint and the pace seemed better again.<\/p>\n \u201cBut yeah, it was just a bit of a tricky race from then on.\u201d<\/p>\n Team principal Andrea Stella said the loss of downforce had a significant impact on Piastri\u2019s race, particularly as the Australian attempted to extract pace from the tyres.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause of losing the board, we lost between five and 10 points of downforce, dependent on the condition,\u201d Stella told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cAnd obviously when you have to find pace pushing the tyres, then the tyres may degrade more. That\u2019s when we see the pace of stint one and stint two for Oscar.<\/p>\n \u201cWe see that to say that he\u2019s using the tyres a lot, and then the tyres kind of give you the bill at the end of the stint.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite the result, Piastri believed there were encouraging signs from McLaren after a difficult run of form, although he warned the team remained too inconsistent.<\/p>\n The 25-year-old also revealed a power unit anomaly had compromised his final qualifying lap, contributing to a weekend in which the team\u2019s true level of performance was difficult to judge.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re a bit inconsistent at the moment,\u201d Piastri admitted.<\/p>\n \u201cThis weekend we did look better. Even yesterday for myself. Q3 there was a power unit anomaly, and the rest of my lap was good.<\/p>\n \u201cLike there\u2019s just a lot of things that skew the picture a bit at the moment. I think hopefully we can get on top of those bits first.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren will introduce further upgrades at the Hungarian Grand Prix, with Piastri hopeful they will make the car easier to operate consistently rather than merely adding outright performance.<\/p>\n \u201cBut also some upgrades will definitely help because the car can be quick on a day like today, but extracting the pace out of it is very, very tough,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cSo hopefully that makes us quicker and a little bit more consistent.\u201d<\/p>\n Norris was even more encouraged by McLaren\u2019s race pace after recovering from 13th on the grid to finish seventh, narrowly missing out on sixth following a late pursuit of Isack Hadjar.<\/p>\n The reigning world champion believed a slow pit stop had cost him around five seconds and prevented him from challenging Piastri and the cars further ahead.<\/p>\n \u201cThe bad part today was just the pit stop. The pit stop cost us, I don\u2019t know, five seconds or something,\u201d Norris told Sky Sports.<\/p>\n \u201cSo that\u2019s easily points on Hadjar and probably a gap that I could have caught to the cars ahead of that, even to Oscar. So a shame.<\/p>\n \u201cJust everything that could have made my life tough today came my way. Obviously starting with a P13, but the pace was very, very strong. Probably the best pace we\u2019ve had all season.<\/p>\n \u201cHonestly I think we had peace to win the race today. Which is very positive.\u201d<\/p>\n Norris was less certain the performance would translate to other circuits, pointing to McLaren\u2019s struggles at Silverstone despite making no major changes to the car.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve not really changed anything since last weekend,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve of course tried to optimise the car, but If we go back to Silverstone, we\u2019re still going to be miles off and we\u2019re still going to struggle.<\/p>\n \u201cSo we have to understand why this track was a bit better for us. And just hope that the rest of the season is the same.\u201d<\/p>\n Stella agreed McLaren had been more competitive than the final result suggested, believing Norris would have been in podium contention without his grid penalty and pit stop delay.<\/p>\n \u201cI think today starting from P3, Lando would have been in contention for a podium. We saw a really strong pace in the race,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cIn reality his race starting from P13 was strong in catching up at the start. But then the timing of the Virtual Safety Car and also the time we lost at the pitstop for a technical problem meant that Lando couldn\u2019t do any better than P7.<\/p>\n \u201cBut definitely our car today for a podium finish, which is encouraging.\u201d<\/p>\n McLaren now turns its attention to Hungary next weekend, where Stella expected Ferrari to again emerge as a major threat around the more corner-dependent Hungaroring.<\/p>\n He said the incoming package would target McLaren\u2019s lack of grip through the corners, although further developments would still be required during the second half of the campaign.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have some upgrades coming for this already in Hungary. We need even more that what comes in Hungary will come for the following races,\u201d Stella said.<\/p>\n \u201cOur objectives are very clear. Not all will be solved in the coming race, but hopefully in the second part we will be there contending for victories.\u201d<\/p>\n The result in Belgium means Piastri remains sixth in the drivers\u2019 championship, holding a one-point advantage over Max Verstappen, while Norris sits fifth and 11 points clear of his teammate.<\/p>\n McLaren also retains third in the constructors\u2019 standings, 44 points ahead of Red Bull in fourth.<\/p>\n Antonelli holds off Leclerc for Belgian GP win<\/a><\/p>\n<\/p>\n \t\t\t\t\t\t\t
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