PIASTRI REMAINS FIRMLY IN FORMULA RENAULT EUROCUP CHAMPIONSHIP HUNT AFTER MONACO

PRESS RELEASE/Oscar Piastri – photo: Dutch Photo Agency

Oscar Piastri took two top-five points-scoring finishes as the Formula Renault Eurocup made a trip to the glamorous streets of Monte Carlo in support of the Monaco Grand Prix last weekend (May 23-26). After sweeping the round at Silverstone, with two victories and two pole positions, the Australian battled on a circuit notorious for being hard to make passes on, to secure a fourth and fifth place finish in the two races.
 
With just one practice session to become familiar with the circuit, the single qualifying period, split into two groups, was key for competitors and Oscar was running well at the front of the field on a drying track. Switching to slicks, his on board data showed he was four-tenths of a second up on pole position coming into the final corner before a Virtual Safety Car curtailed his lap, leaving him third in his group, which meant starting positions of sixth and fifth respectively.
 
The teenager fell back to eighth on the opening lap of race one but showed his speed and ability by making two passes for position, gaining another when a rival had a problem, and being granted a further place after a post-race penalty for Lorenzo Colombo, being classified fourth. Race two was tougher, however, as he and R-ace GP team-mate Caio Collet pressured João Vieira throughout, but could not find an opening to challenge the podium places, crossing the line in the fifth position he started in.
 
There will be little time for rest and recovery as the Formula Renault Eurocup heads to Paul Ricard in France this weekend (May 30-June 1) for two more contests. Live coverage of both races should return to the Renault Sport Series social media channels.

“I went quite a bit better than last year; coming back for my second time was definitely a help and the simulator is the most useful tool you’ve got as it’s the only way to get in laps before getting there. Practice is an interesting approach because you’ve got to attack it enough to build up a rhythm pretty quickly but not push so hard that you end up in the wall. I just got unlucky in qualifying which compromised the whole weekend. I probably would have had pole if I’d have had another 20 seconds before the VSC.
 
“My start for race one wasn’t that good, and [Lorenzo] Colombo got a good start behind me. He cut turn one and gained a few spots and the guys in front of me touched wheels, so I had to brake and lost another place because of that. My move on [Leonardo] Lorandi was good, and the other pass was when the guy made a mistake. We were miles quicker than [João] Viera in race two, but he didn’t make any mistakes, so credit to him. It was tough for Caio [Collet] as he wanted to put him under pressure, but every time he tried a move I was there waiting to pounce, so it was a stalemate in the end really.
 
“Outside of the races I got to watch qualifying and the Grand Prix from the start-finish straight which was cool, especially qualifying. To see the Formula 1 drivers on the limit through Tabac and the Swimming Pool section was really a special pretty thing to watch.”

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