“We were no match for Max”: Oscar Piastri speaks about the ‘special’ feeling of leading the sprint race for few laps as he finishes P2 at Spa

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri stole the show in the sprint race in the Belgian Grand Prix weekend. He continued his stellar form at Spa Francorchamps as he lead his first laps in his F1 career ahead of reigning champion Max Verstappen and others.

The Aussie driver earned his front-row start for the Sprint race in the shootout session, Saturday morning. With the rain delay, the race was shortened to 11 laps. Piastri gained a position to lead the race as he pitted on the rolling restart with Verstappen pitting one lap later.

After a few laps behind the safety car, rookie Oscar Piastri hit the throttle as he restarted the race, with Max Verstappen chasing him down. The RB19's superiority on the straights meant Verstappen completed the move to overtake Piastri on the Kemmel straight.

The Red Bull driver went on to win the race by a huge margin with Piastri settling into second and Pierre Gasly holding on to a third-place finish.

"Very very happy, we tried out best. We boxed when the safety came in, lead a few laps... tried my best but we were no match for Max [Verstappen]," Piastri said in the parc-ferme interview.

Oscar Piastri continued McLaren's march of successive P2 finishes in the last three races. The rookie was quick to redirect credit to the team for overhauling their season with the upgrades.

"Yeah, nice to be up there in P2, apart from Max our pace was really strong. Full credit to the team again, the last three weekends we've had it's been pretty special compared to where we have been. I can't thank them enough for the car." he added.

The jubilant 22-year-old reckoned he won't forget this day, as he lead the F1 grid for the first time.

"We have got a little bit of work to do to get right to the top. But it's a lot nice to be up there. To lead my first laps was a day a won't forget." he concluded.

Piastri, who missed out on a podium finish in Silverstone, finally got the result his performances deserved.

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Oscar Piastri explains why he wasn't able to fend off Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen

Oscar Piastri was a sitting duck in the MCL60 that was considerably slower on the straights than Max Verstappen's RB19. Verstappen in the Red Bull managed to quickly put his car in the lead when they reached the long Kemmel straight.

"I thought the safety car was gonna be in my favor, less laps to hold him behind. I looked out of Turn 1, and I feel I got a decent restart and I looked at the top of Eau Rouge and he was basically on top of me already. I couldn't keep him behind me on the straights," Piastri said about the restart.

"Clearly, we have a little bit more work to do, but I'm very happy to get the good points," he added

Piastri will lineup fifth on the grid alongside Verstappen for the Belgian Grand Prix tomorrow on Sunday.