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Piastri learns plenty from his bad brake in British GP

Piastri learns plenty from his bad brake in British GP

Perth Now2 days ago
McLaren's Oscar Piastri says he has learnt from a costly British Grand Prix penalty and will not brake as hard when leading behind the Formula One safety car at restarts.
The championship frontrunner was handed a 10-second penalty at Silverstone this month for erratic braking before the restart when the safety car was about to return to the pits.
The penalty cost him the win, handing it to teammate Lando Norris, and trimmed his overall lead to eight points at the season's midpoint.
Stewards ruled the Australian had suddenly braked hard, forcing Red Bull's reigning champion Max Verstappen, who was right behind him, to take evasive action and momentarily overtake.
Piastri said he had done the same manoeuvre in the past, as had others, but accepted it would now be punished by the stewards.
"I looked through it with the team afterwards and I think there's been a lot of learning on both sides," the McLaren driver told reporters ahead of this weekend's Belgian Grand Prix, where he arrived with a narrow lead over Norris.
"I still have my feelings about it I guess, but it's in the past now and I've moved on.
"If it needs to be penalised now then that's fine. I know that for the future, but obviously immediately after the race I was frustrated."
Piastri added that there had been discussions with the governing FIA to clarify the situation and how it might have been handled differently.
"I won't brake as hard next time. It's as simple as that," he said. "And I think also now the threshold is a bit clearer on where that stands, so I will just simply not brake as hard."
Belgium, the longest track on the calendar and one of the fastest, is a favourite circuit for Piastri, though the race will only be held in four of the next six years as Formula One alternates some venues.
"I would like to win anywhere, but here is always a track I've really enjoyed from the first time I came here," the Australian said.
"It's a track that in my opinion should be on the calendar every year as long as Formula One exists."
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‘It's a huge upset': Beating the USA in a relay is sweet. Australia's underdog swimmers just did it twice in 15 minutes
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‘It's a huge upset': Beating the USA in a relay is sweet. Australia's underdog swimmers just did it twice in 15 minutes

There were nerves. Mollie O'Callaghan, tasked with the opening leg, fumbled her goggles on the blocks. No Cate Campbell. No Emma McKeon. No Shayna Jack. This was one of the least experienced quartets Australia had fielded in years, having won Olympic gold in 2012, 2016, 2021 and 2024. O'Callaghan (52.79), an individual 100m freestyle world champion in 2023, fired off a great first leg before Meg Harris (51.87 split) held the lead. From there, it was down to newcomers Milla Jansen and Wunsch — both highly rated but no one really knew if they really had it in them to propel Australia home. That they did as Jansen (52.89 split) kept Australia in front before Wunsch (53.05), channelling Ian Thorpe on Gary Hall Jr, surged past the USA's Torri Huske in the final strokes to secure gold in 3:30.60 — 0.44 seconds clear of the Americans. The Australian coaches' area erupted at the sight of a young team digging deep when it mattered. 'It was very daunting,' O'Callaghan said. 'All of us were quite nervous. I'm very confident in these girls.' Wunsch added: 'I just wanted to power home and give it all I had. And it's really exciting to be able to stand up with the gold medals.' The Americans declined to detail the impact of illness in their camp, but butterfly world record holder Gretchen Walsh withdrew an hour before the race. 'I don't really want to speak on how much it's affected us or who it's affected,' Huske said. 'But we've done a really good job staying resilient and staying positive.' The Australian men have often lived in the shadow of their female counterparts, despite winning the same event at the 2023 world titles in Fukuoka. This time, their task was even tougher on paper. At their staging camp in Darwin, Flynn Southam, Kai Taylor, Max Giuliani and Chalmers sat down to plot a path to victory. They knew it would take something special. They did it in 2023 at the world championships but had to settle for silver at last year's Olympics. Southam (47.77) set the tone before Taylor unleashed a sizzling 47.04 split in front of his mother, Australian Olympian Hayley Lewis, in the stands. Giuliani (47.63) got Australia into third, and then came Chalmers who delivered a devastating final split of 46.53 to motor the Dolphins home over a highly fancied American team. As Chalmers sliced through the water, his teammates smashed the starting blocks with their hands and willed the veteran to the wall. This was swimming theatre at its finest. Australia finished in 3:08.97, just 0.73 seconds outside the USA's world record from 2008. Italy (3:09.58) pipped the USA (3:09.64) for bronze. Then came even more celebrations, as Dean Boxall and head coach Rohan Taylor mobbed those around them in jubilant scenes. Australia weren't expected to come close but landed a 1-2 blow on their American rivals. 'The goal for us was just to give Kyle a puncher's shot,' Southam said. 'That was what we did. We all did our job extraordinarily well. 'The girls are so incredibly deep and strong, so we wanted to be part of that. We may not be the most talented on paper ... but we get in there and we have the underdog mentality. That was so awesome.' Loading Asked if he thought the USA were shocked by the result, Chalmers said: 'I think it's a huge upset and we prove that time and time again. Every year you read the articles and people write us off. 'We have a point to prove and swim with a chip on our shoulder a little bit, to be honest with you. 'It's not just about the US, but it was nice to get a hand on the wall first tonight and hear the Australian anthem is so special.' The Americans, meanwhile, were licking their wounds after failing to win a gold medal on night one — a rare sight for the swimming powerhouse, who last year also endured their worst Olympic gold haul in the pool since 1988. 'We're tough,' US swimmer Chris Guiliano said. 'We've got some dogs on this team.'

‘It's a huge upset': Beating the USA in a relay is sweet. Australia's underdog swimmers just did it twice in 15 minutes
‘It's a huge upset': Beating the USA in a relay is sweet. Australia's underdog swimmers just did it twice in 15 minutes

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Red flag out as downpour delays Belgian Grand Prix
Red flag out as downpour delays Belgian Grand Prix

Perth Now

time3 hours ago

  • Perth Now

Red flag out as downpour delays Belgian Grand Prix

The start of the Belgian Grand Prix has been delayed by rain and poor visibility at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit after a formation lap behind the safety car ended with the red flag being waved. Australia's Oscar Piastri, who leads the world championship, was second on the grid, behind McLaren teammate Lando Norris. An FIA spokesperson said: "Most drivers have reported poor visibility during the formation lap, hence the red flag." Drivers returned to wait in their team garages. With more rain expected, there was no immediate announcement of a new start time. Norris was asked to report on the conditions. He said: "They are not ideal. I can't see a lot behind the safety car so I can't imagine what it is like for everyone else." The FIA did not immediately ssue any update as to when the 13th round of the season would get under way. The rain delay comes four years after a weather-induced debacle at the 2021 Belgian Grand Prix. Persistent rain meant it was cut to just two laps under safety car conditions. The shortest race in F1 history had no competitive action and angered fans who had waited hours in the rain for it to start. Four-time world champion Max Verstappen took aim at the decision to suspend the start of the race. "That's a bit silly," said Verstappen on the radio. "We should just run, like chillax. Jesus. "They're way too cautious. And now the rain is coming, the heavy rain. It's going to be a three-hour delay."

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