Australian star Oscar Piastri secures best result of his F1 career at British Grand Prix

Aussie Formula 1 rookie Oscar Piastri’s name was chanted by thousands of happy fans after a career-best finish at the British Grand Prix at Silverstone.

Max Verstappen became only the fifth driver to win six consecutive races with his victory in the GP, ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton in third.

Piastri finished fourth but looked destined for a podium finish after trailing his teammate Norris for most of the race.

The Aussie was overtaken in the pits by Hamilton, who was aided by a safety car deployment called after an engine failure on Kevin Magnussen’s Haas.

Hamilton, on a fresh set of softs, was too quick for the rookie for the remainder of the race, denying him his first career podium finish.

“It’s a bittersweet result,” said the 22-year-old Melburnian afterwards.

That’s the best way to describe how I feel. The most pleasing aspect was that we achieved these results on merit.

“I think it’s one thing to get these results through luck, but we really were the second fastest team today, which was a very happy surprise.

“For my part, we were unlucky with the timing of the safety car, with Lewis getting a free stop. But in some ways it’s nice to be disappointed with a fourth place, given where we were at the start of the year.’

Norris, who drove superbly and became the first McLaren driver since Hamilton to podium at Silverstone, expressed disappointment with his team-mate.

“He should be here,” Norris said.

If everything went according to plan and there was no safety car. So it’s a bit of a shame. He earned his first podium in Formula 1.

“I think it would have been great for us as Team McLaren and to celebrate our 60th anniversary… and he deserved it. He’s been on top form all weekend, he pushed me insanely.

Piastri described impressive result at Silverstone as ‘bittersweet’

Piastri is very happy with the big steps McLaren has made in recent weeks

He’s been good all year. It’s not like he just showed up here and been strong. He’s been good since day one in the car and makes my life hard sometimes. I don’t always like it, but it’s a good thing and it also makes me a better driver.”

The result had thousands of elated fans at Silverstone chanting the names of both Norris and Piastri during post-race interviews.

Piastri took to Instagram after the race to recap his ride, writing, “Safety car didn’t get the memo. But what a car!’

Retired F1 legend Alain Prost replied: ‘So proud of you, Oscar! Great ride.’

Before the race, Piastri’s father, Chris, explained how happy he was with his son’s success, describing the qualifying session as ‘the stuff dreams are made of’.

“It’s been such a journey, such an effort from everyone involved with Oscar,” he said Speed ​​Cafe.

“After a year off, and it finally looks like the car is moving in the right direction for both guys – I’m super happy for both Oscar and Lando – this is great.”