Oscar Piastri opens up about 'Tricky' Monaco race, says 'would have taken something pretty special to beat Charles Leclerc'

In a crash-filled Monaco Grand Prix, Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc won his first-ever Grand Prix at home track. Starting from the qualifying session on Saturday Leclerc dominated the track on Sunday too and registered a massive win over Oscar Piastri. 

Speaking about it with media Piastri accepted that it would have taken something special to beat Leclerc. He said, "Tricky race. The pace at the beginning was incredibly slow and I had one little half look before the tunnel. But didn't have a small enough car to fit into a gap.”

"So yeah, thanks to the whole team. It's been a great weekend all around and nice to finally put a result on the board. We've been very strong for the last few weekends but didn't have the results to show for it. So nice to have a podium and what better place."

How did Charles Leclerc win the race? 

The battle against Leclerc was lost by not securing pole position, as overtaking is notoriously difficult at the Circuit de Monaco. The young Australian acknowledges that the only way to beat the Ferrari driver was to deliver the best lap of his career in Q3. 

Reflecting on this, Piastri realizes that missing out on victory makes him reconsider what he could have done better in his final qualifying lap. He said, "I mean it does but to be honest, Charles has been mega all weekend and they've been quick from the very first lap, and I think it would have taken something pretty special in quali to outdo him.”

"The opportunity was almost there but it would have taken probably the best lap of my life. So I'm happy with P2, a good result for the team again and yeah, very, very happy”, said Piastri. Notably, Formula 1 will now move to Canada for the Canadian GP on June 9.