Oscar Piastri weighs in on the raging debate between the Australian and English cricket team 

In response to the cricket dispute during the second Ashes Test, McLaren driver Oscar Piastri stated that England is usually just as unsportsmanlike as Australia.

This opinion of the F1 driver comes to light following the controversy during the second Test at Lord's in the ongoing Ashes. English batter Jonny Bairstow left his crease after deciding not to play a ball bowled by Australia's Cameron Green because he thought the ball was dead. Wicketkeeper Alex Carey, though, hit the wicket with the ball and Bairstow was declared out.

Piastri cited another contentious Ashes incident from 2013 as proof that England is not perfect. Stuart Broad of England, who was a prominent critic of Australia's conduct at Lord's, refused to leave the pitch after edging a ball to a catcher.

Australian driver Oscar Piastri commented on this issue on Sky Sports and said:

“It’s obviously a controversial moment. I think in the laws of the game, the umpires decided it was out. There are always moments like that for and against. I remember England and Broad in particular had their fair share of the spirit of cricket moments too."

He added:

"It’s always a controversial topic for every team. But yeah, the umpires decided it was out. So we’ll move on to the next game and see what happens.”

Oscar Piastri was asked if he was apprehensive about his comments not going down well with the locals ahead of the race in Silverstone. The McLaren driver jokingly said that he might require extra security and protection at the British GP.

He said:

“I might have to get a few more security guards!”

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Oscar Piastri talks about McLaren's upgrades for Silverstone

F1 Grand Prix of Austria

Oscar Piastri's car is all set to receive upgrades that got McLaren the best results in Austria last weekend with Lando Norris finishing P4. This has been the best result since the 2022 Singapore GP.

However, the race at Austria was perhaps one of the worst that Oscar Piastri has had in his rookie season so far. Though his cars had no upgrades, it doesn't justify the huge difference in the performance between the two drivers.

Piastri expressed satisfaction with the team's performance. But he also explained that Mercedes and Aston Martin's troubles may have given McLaren a false sense of security.

He explained:

“We’ll have to see. I think we performed very well in Austria, on Lando’s side in particular. I think the pace, even my car with the old package, was very good over one lap."

He added further:

“I think obviously Mercedes and Aston had probably a weaker weekend than we expected, so we’ll have to see where we’re getting closer to that fight with those kinds of teams, but we’ll have to see if we can do consistently.”

Max Verstappen, Charles Leclerc and Sergio Perez finished on the podium at the Australian GP ahead of Lando Norris.