Oscar Piastri blamed Rand Norris for his lack of rhythm at the F1 Monaco Grand Prix as he achieved more position in the title race.
Piastri finished only third in Monaco on Sunday, 3.6 seconds behind race-winning McLaren teammate Norris.
The result means there will be just three points between Piastri and Norris at the top of the driver’s championship heading towards the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.
Unlike many races this year, it was Piastri that was even more uncomfortable behind the wheels of the MCL39.
After qualifying, Piastri described his weekend as “mistress” to that point when he lost to Norris and Charles Leclerc.
Looking back at the race at the FIA press conference, Piastri said:
“But from where I was, it almost panned out the way I was thinking. It certainly made the race pace a little higher than last year, so from the cockpit it was a little more intense.
“We haven’t pushed it all out yet, but we’ve made certain points of the race a little more tense.”
Piastri struggled with Monaco’s “rhythm”
Before Leclerc, McLaren stopped Piastri two laps before.
But a bit slow pit stop – too far behind the Ferrari driver in the first place meant he couldn’t raise the order.
Piastri criticized the lack of rhythm for entering the qualifying round.
“I felt everything was fine, but you’re not really pushing it to the limits of the race,” Piastri added.
“I was pretty pleased in the qualifying round. I think I got there in the end. I was struggling to get into rhythm before qualifying, and around here, I’m paying the price without running clean.
“So I think our weekend was a bit off from us, but the pace was still good so we were trying to get rid of it all. All of the raps were tough yesterday.