Oscar Piastri has admitted he needed "some good fortune" to secure victory at the Miami Grand Prix after a disappointing qualifying performance left him feeling "pretty frustrated".
The McLaren driver bounced back from finishing fourth on Saturday in spectacular fashion during Sunday's race, eventually finishing half a minute ahead of the competition - with team-mate Lando Norris taking second place.
Piastri's candid post-race assessment acknowledged that his qualifying struggles had threatened to derail his weekend before luck turned in his favour.
“I think this weekend was not my best, and a lot of that was yesterday,” the Australian said in his post-race press conference.
Oscar Piastri has admitted he needed "some good fortune" to secure victory at the Miami Grand Prix after a disappointing qualifying performance left him feeling "pretty frustrated"
GETTY
“The race today was pretty solid, but yesterday I was pretty frustrated with my performance.
“Ultimately, yes, I won the race this weekend, but I think the likelihood of winning many races [after] qualifying fourth is pretty low.
"I did a lot of things right today, but there was definitely some good fortune there as well, and a very quick car. I don’t want to rely on that every single Sunday.”
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Decent pic.twitter.com/xsDjUd8ifp
— Oscar Piastri (@OscarPiastri) May 4, 2025
Piastri made his intentions clear from the start, moving ahead of teammate Norris on the first lap when the latter went off at turn two while attempting to pass Verstappen.
He then overtook rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli with relative ease, noting that the young driver "was very nice to me and didn't make life very tough."
The final hurdle was championship leader Max Verstappen, whom Piastri described as a "different story" to pass, requiring more strategic thinking and patience.
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Piastri also described the challenge of overtaking Verstappen for the lead position.
"It was tough at the beginning trying to get past Max," he explained. "I tried pretty hard to get past, with everything still on my car."
Despite the difficulty, Piastri remained confident in McLaren's superior pace.
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"I could tell that we had a lot of pace from the get-go today, and it was going to be a matter of when I got past, not if," he said.
McLaren's dominant pace in Miami came as a surprise even to Piastri himself.
"Clearly, this is the exception to the pace we've had this year," he admitted. "Yes, we've always had a strong car, but the pace we had today from lap one it felt like was unexpected, even for us."
Oscar Piastri produced a stunning display to win the Miami Grand Prix on Sunday
REUTERS
Piastri will be hoping to win a fourth race in a row when the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix takes place on May 18.
Verstappen, however, will be aiming to reel in his rival.
The Red Bull star has won all three races at the track so far, with his first victory coming back in 2022.
