In the round-up: Oscar Piastri admitted he did not consider his sprint race victory in Qatar last year as a real win.
In brief
Piastri pleased to have “no question marks” over winner status
Piastri was the only driver on the grid to have won a sprint race but not a grand prix until his maiden triumph last weekend. Afterwards he admitted his grand prix victory felt very different to his sprint race win.
“The sprint win was always a bit awkward,” he said. “In my opinion it’s a win, but not really a win. This is much more of a proud moment for me than winning the sprint.
“Of course, it was a special moment at the time, but now to have no questions, no question marks over whether I’m a race winner or not is a very nice feeling to have. The emotion is definitely different.”
His team mate Lando Norris said Piastri deserved his breakthrough triumph. “That’s a very special feeling winning your first race – and I say first race because I think you’ll agree that it’s his first race win and not a sprint race.”
Hadjar “still speechless” over gaffe
Formula 2 points leader Isack Hadjar was still reeling over his blunder in Sunday’s feature race a day later. Hadjar qualified third but had to start from the pit lane after failing to join the track in time ahead of the start.
“I’m still speechless about that one,” he admitted. “Missed out on taking part to the start on the grid because of human mistake.”
Hadjar finished the race in 18th. “Starting last from the pits, we still went with normal strategy and we were in the points until the second [Safety Car] killed us,” he said. “Some pitted for option [tyres] and I was easy to overtake. That’s it. Wasted race.”
Aston Martin reveals Valkyrie hypercar
Aston Martin has revealed the hypercar based on its Valkyrie road car which will compete in the World Endurance Championship next year. The Valkyrie AMR-LMH was shaken down at Donington Park by Darren Turner, Mario Farnbacher and Harry Tincknell.
Tsuboi ends Super Formula win drought
Sho Tsuboi scored his first Super Formula victory for four years at Fuji Speedway on Sunday. Having delayed his pit stop until lap 28 of 41, he passed Tadasuke Makino, Tomoki Nojiri and Toshiki Oyu to win. The win leaves him 9.5 points behind championship leader Nojiri.
Red Bull junior driver Ayumu Iwasa missed pole position by 17…
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