Max Verstappen Hails Oscar Piastri’s 1 Unique Quality Minutes After Rookie Confessed to a Failed Coup

How often do we hear a driver compliment the pilot from the rival team in the grueling world of motorsports? Even if we have someone like Lewis Hamilton who is seen frequently praising drivers, how regularly do you remember Max Verstappen complimenting someone? And if the man who demonstrated the real meaning of perfection while establishing dominance in the F1 grid lauds a single attribute of a driver, then that driver may have made a lasting impression with his outstanding abilities, which led the double champion to acclaim him. The individual is not an experienced one but rather a young gun, Oscar Piastri. What then is that one attribute of Piastri that is prompting the Dutchman even when the rookie admits to making a mistake?

Oscar Piastri was determined to leave his mark on the Belgian Track after recent modifications made the sluggish MCL60 appear to be a rocket ship. Building on the fact that Verstappen narrowly edged out the Australian rookie in the sprint shootout by a margin of more than a thousandth of a second, Oscar Piastri accomplished an unbelievable feat by taking the lead for nearly five laps.

Although Piastri’s pace was good, it wasn’t enough to defeat Verstappen. After the sprint race was over, the Australian acknowledged his abysmal failure in his post-race remarks. He confessed, “Led a few laps and tried my best, but we were no match for Max.” Even though Verstappen defeated Piastri by more than 6.3 seconds, the Dutchman was unable to stop himself from explaining that he admired a single characteristic trait of Piastri after witnessing the animal mentality.

Verstappen later stated on Viaplay, ” So far Piastri has a great debut season. On pure pace he’s for sure good, but what I think is the most important is how consistent he is.” While elaborating he said, “He doesn’t make many mistakes and that’s impressive in ur 1st season.”

READ MORE: Oscar Piastri Gives Lando Norris a Special Shoutout as “Benchmark” Craft Hailed as Driving Force

Where Piastri thought the safety may work to his benefit, he undoubtedly learned why no one can stop Max Verstappen. However, subsequently, the Dutchman confessed why it was so easy for him to reclaim his crown, pointing out an issue with MCL 60.

What was the flaw with Oscar Piastri’s MCL60 that made it so easy for Max Verstappen to overtake him?

Apart from having a good weekend at Spa Francorchamps, Oscar Piastri also got that extra adrenaline rush of having one of the fastest cars on the grid with the perfect driver Max Verstappen chasing him down. Piastri was in the lead when the safety car was deployed on lap 4 after Fernando Alonso hit the gravel. Verstappen’s pace however helped him to close the gap as a result of the safety car.

Although Piastri claimed following the race, ” I thought the safety car would play into my favor but I did the restart and looked behind me and at Eau Rouge, he was already right behind me. It was hard to hold them off on the straights.” However, later it was Verstappen who revealed the real reason behind taking over the MCL 60 and clearing all the thoughts of Piastri. The Dutchman saw Piastri struggling with the tires and post-race Verstappen clarified why he had a good run after the safety car.

As per MSN, he said, “ I came out behind Oscar and then I knew that I had to get by him at some point. I could see that within two laps he was really struggling a lot more with the tyres like they were just overheating more. With our top speed as well, that’s why I had a good run after the Safety Car.”

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With the ongoing struggle between Piastri and the Dutchman alongside their starting positions do you believe Piastri, with his past experience, will be able to hold off the double champion this time?