Oscar Piastri conceded that it was \u201ca bit frustrating\u201d to not be able to overtake Max Verstappen during the Sprint at the Belgian Grand Prix, while McLaren team mate Lando Norris admitted that the team may need to \u201creassess\u201d prior to Qualifying later on Saturday.<\/p>\n
Despite initially holding onto the lead at the start of the event, Piastri<\/a> lost the position to Verstappen<\/a> later in the lap as the Dutchman surged past on the Kemmel Straight \u2013 and from there onwards the Australian was unable to retake P1, despite trying to chase down the Red Bull<\/a>.<\/p>\n Asked afterwards if Lap 1 had played out as he expected, Piastri responded: \u201cPretty much, yeah. I tried my best to snake my way through the straights and not give too much of a tow, but I just didn\u2019t have enough straight-line speed, and then obviously, I didn\u2019t have enough straight-line speed for the next 15 laps either.<\/p>\n \u201cStill a good result, still good points. It is only the Sprint and the main points are tomorrow. I\u2019m pretty happy with it, just obviously a bit frustrating that I couldn\u2019t get past.\u201d<\/p>\n Pushed on whether the team may trim some downforce from the car ahead of Sunday\u2019s Grand Prix to prevent the same scenario from happening again, Piastri said: \u201cIt\u2019s a great question.<\/p>\n \u201cThe weather is looking pretty bad tomorrow, which obviously means you don\u2019t want to take off too much wing, but I don\u2019t really want to repeat the Sprint we\u2019ve just had. We\u2019ll have a look and see what we can do, but there are a lot of things to look into before tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n Despite being left disappointed by his result in the Sprint<\/a>, Piastri is remaining optimistic about Qualifying later on Saturday.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m looking forward to it,\u201d he explained. \u201cSpa is my favourite track of the year, and especially in Qualifying, it\u2019s just mega around here. I\u2019m looking forward to some more laps in anger.\u201d<\/p>\n Behind him, Piastri\u2019s team mate Norris had to settle for third place. After being overtaken by Ferrari<\/a>\u2019s Charles Leclerc<\/a> on Lap 1, the Briton later retook the place and tried to chase down Verstappen and Piastri up ahead. However, like Piastri, Norris was unable to make a move.<\/p>\n \u201c[It was] a bit of fun at the start with trying to overtake Charles,\u201d Norris reflected after the Sprint. \u201cMaybe I could have positioned myself a little bit better, but otherwise, it was a bit too difficult to get past Max.<\/p>\n \u201cMax drove a good race and I wasn\u2019t going to get past anyone unless Oscar got past Max. They drove good races. Not a lot we could do on a day like today, so I\u2019m looking forward to tomorrow.<\/p>\n \u201cObviously, I hoped for a bit of battling or something, but the Red Bull was too quick in the straight for us to catch up. Maybe some tweaks for us to make into Qualifying. I don\u2019t know, but we\u2019ll reassess and see what we can do.\u201d<\/p>\n