{"id":32853,"date":"2023-10-28T19:25:00","date_gmt":"2023-10-28T18:25:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/?p=32853"},"modified":"2023-10-28T18:30:33","modified_gmt":"2023-10-28T17:30:33","slug":"oscar-piastri-reflects-on-disappointing-early-retirement","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/formula1news.co.uk\/oscar-piastri-reflects-on-disappointing-early-retirement\/","title":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri reflects on disappointing early retirement"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The highs of finishing second in the Qatar Grand Prix are certainly in the past for Oscar Piastri, who was forced to retire at the United States Grand Prix on Sunday following the opening few laps. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piastri endured a challenging US GP, with him having been consistently slower than Lando Norris throughout the weekend at the Circuit of the Americas. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

After finishing Saturday’s sprint race outside the points in P10, Piastri was hopeful of being amongst the points in the main race. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Starting from 10th on the grid with a car which has made huge progress over recent rounds, points were certainly on the cards. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Those cards quickly disappeared for Piastri though, who collided with Esteban Ocon on the exit of the fast second corner on the opening lap. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Piastri’s right-rear tyre made contact with Ocon’s left sidepod, which forced the Alpine driver to retire shortly after. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ocon retired significantly earlier than Piastri, who was called into the pits to retire himself on Lap 10 whilst running in sixth. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was a huge disappointment for the 22-year-old; however, he didn’t feel like anyone was to blame for the unfortunate impact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThere\u2019s fluid all down the right sidepod, and that\u2019s where the contact was, so yeah, that was probably the cause of the end of the race,” Piastri said, as reported by Speedcafe.com.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t really think anything of it (the collision), to be honest. I felt like I definitely had the right to be there.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI don\u2019t think Esteban did anything untoward. We met and, unfortunately, it\u2019s caused damage for both of us. Just one of those incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The US GP has certainly been a more challenging weekend for Piastri, mostly due to how challenging COTA is for new drivers. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Nevertheless, the McLaren driver was pleased with the progress he’d made in each session, with it having just been a shame that his race ended so soon.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThroughout practice and qualifying, I was improving through each session,\u201d Piastri added. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Charles #Leclerc<\/a> \u2018happy\u2019 with Max #Verstappen<\/a> aggression https:\/\/t.co\/alQrUWuxRJ<\/a><\/p>— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) October 22, 2023<\/a><\/blockquote>