Piastri is eager to put "frustrating" Barcelona weekend behind

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is intent on putting his frustrating Spanish Grand Prix behind and returning to the form he has shown before the Barcelona round.

Piastri started from ninth at last Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix, but made up positions during the race and finished in seventh. However, the Barcelona round was a tough event for the Australian as he struggled for pace compared to his team-mate Lando Norris, who only fractionally missed out on his second win of 2024.

Speaking of this weekend's Spielberg round, Piastri said that he is eager to start with a good baseline setup: “I can’t wait to get to Austria and hit the ground running.

"I’m really looking forward to getting back in the car on Friday and working hard with the engineers to start the weekend on the front foot.

“I was aiming for far more in Barcelona but coming away with points from a frustrating one keeps things ticking over. Credit to the team for the job they are consistently doing and hopefully we can all keep the momentum going.”

His team-mate Lando Norris came within a whisker of victory in Spain, having earned his second career pole with a superb lap in qualifying on Saturday.

The British racer was frustrated to fall to third on the opening lap, but fought back up to second, which promoted him to second in the Drivers’ Championship for the first time in his career.

“I’m excited for the Austrian Grand Prix. It’s a really fun track to drive, and I have some great memories from over the years, so I am looking forward to getting out there. The fans are always enthusiastic and create a great atmosphere.

“The car is in a great spot, we’ll take what we learned from Spain and use it to keep pushing. We’re not focused on setting specific targets, our aim is to keep improving what we do each weekend and we let the results speak for themselves. Let’s see what we can do," noted Norris.

Expecting tiny margins between the top teams at the Red Bull Ring, McLaren team boss Andrea Stella commented: “We head to Austria for the second race in a busy triple-header, having left Spain with another strong result for the team.

"While we’ve had many positive results this season, the Red Bull Ring is one of the shortest circuits on the calendar, so we expect it to be very close this weekend. We remain focused in our efforts to keep improving and consistently fight the top teams around us.”