Piastri admits he thought he could catch Mercedes in Belgium as he praises McLaren for making 'inroads' on Red Bull

Oscar Piastri has admitted that he was hopeful of being able to catch the Mercedes pair as he chased them down during the latter stages of the Belgian Grand Prix, but the McLaren driver remains happy with his team continuing to cut into Red Bull’s lead.

After starting from P5 on the grid, Piastri had a better launch than team mate Lando Norris and put himself ahead off the line. From there the Australian displayed good pace as he overtook drivers including Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc during the 44-lap encounter.

READ MORE: Russell takes incredible victory in Belgium on aging tyres after thrilling late-race chase from Hamilton

With Lewis Hamilton on the tail of George Russell as the race neared its conclusion, Piastri managed to hone in on the Silver Arrows cars but ultimately could not get close enough, crossing the line in third before later being promoted to second after Russell was disqualified post-race due to his car being underweight.

Speaking immediately after the Grand Prix – and before Russell’s disqualification – Piastri was quizzed on whether he felt he could get the Mercedes duo, to which he answered: “Honestly yes, I thought I could.

“Clean air was such a big difference today – once I got a little bit of clean air in the middle stint I picked up a lot of pace and managed to get a nice tyre delta for the last stop. But clearly didn’t need tyre delta, you just needed to keep going as George showed!

“But no, happy with the result. I think we managed the race very well. I think that’s the second or third time this year we’ve tried to run over the front jack, so I’ll try not to do that next time… But very happy with the result and I don’t think we could have done too much more.”

DRIVER OF THE DAY: Hamilton gets your vote after Mercedes showdown at Spa

In terms of what was missing that prevented him from reaching P1, Piastri explained: "I think just not quite enough speed, it took me a couple of laps to get past Charles and I really overheated the tyres doing that."

He might not have managed to catch Mercedes but Piastri – who claimed his debut Formula 1 win in Hungary one week ago – is feeling “positive” about the next races on the calendar, which will arrive after the sport has embarked on its traditional summer break.

HIGHLIGHTS: Catch up on the action as Russell and Hamilton duel for win in thrilling Belgian Grand Prix

“It’s been a really good couple of weeks for myself and the whole team of course – a lot of points,” the 23-year-old said. “We still made inroads on Red Bull today and that’s a really positive thing going into the break.

“I think everyone’s looking forward to a bit of a break – I know I am so I can heal up a little bit – but it’s been a fun couple of weeks and [I’m] looking forward to some time relaxing and coming back stronger in the second half.”