Piastri left with mixed emotions after race ‘unravels’ in Miami while Norris takes victory

Oscar Piastri endured mixed fortunes at the Miami Grand Prix, with the Australian enjoying a strong start to the race before the timing of the Safety Car and a collision with Carlos Sainz dropped him down to a final result of P13 – on the day his team mate Lando Norris took his maiden F1 win.

Piastri caught the eye in the early stages of the event, having been running as high as P2 during the opening laps. The McLaren driver pitted on Lap 27 of 57 – just two laps before the Safety Car was called following a collision between Logan Sargeant and Kevin Magnussen.

READ MORE: Norris beats Verstappen for breakthrough maiden F1 victory in action-packed Miami Grand Prix

This benefitted Piastri’s team mate Norris, who had not yet pitted in P1 and was consequently able to make his stop during the Safety Car period and re-emerge in the lead.

Piastri, meanwhile, lost out, before suffering further when he made contact with Sainz in the latter half of the race as the Ferrari man attempted an overtake.

Having sustained damage to his front wing during the incident, Piastri was forced to pit before ultimately crossing the line in 13th place, a stark contrast from his team mate who clinched his debut victory in Formula 1.

“I think we did a lot of things right in the first half of the race,” Piastri reflected after the event. "A bit unfortunate with the Safety Car timing obviously, and then [it] just kind of unravelled from there. Obviously a really good day for the team, they deserved to have both cars up there.

READ MORE: ‘I finally delivered for them’ – Norris pays tribute to McLaren after 'about time' debut F1 win in Miami

“But yeah, a really encouraging day in terms of the pace and obviously to get a win on pace. [There was] a little bit of good fortune involved but Lando had the pace after, which I think is incredibly encouraging. So overall mixed emotions, but very, very happy for the team.”

Asked for his take on the incident with Sainz, Piastri commented that he needed to “have a look” at what had happened.

However, the stewards later deemed Sainz to be at fault for the collision and handed the Spaniard a five-second time penalty, along with one penalty point on his licence.

HIGHLIGHTS: Relive the action from a dramatic Miami Grand Prix as Norris takes debut F1 win ahead of Verstappen

Piastri will be hoping for better luck next time out at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. With Norris running a full upgrade package on his car during the weekend in Miami – while Piastri was carrying just some of the new parts – the Australian is set to receive the complete package himself at Imola.