Motor racing-McLaren expect Piastri to turn Silverstone hurt to his advantage
LONDON (Reuters) -McLaren expect Oscar Piastri to turn British Grand Prix hurt to his advantage as the Formula One title battle with teammate Lando Norris gets increasingly intense and rivals are left trailing.
The pair are now only eight points apart at the top, with Piastri finishing second to home hero and crowd favourite Norris on Sunday but still leading the standings at the halfway point in the season.
"I will use the frustration to make sure I win some more races later," an unhappy Piastri said after a 10 second penalty for braking heavily behind the safety car scuppered his chances just when he seemed set to triumph.
Team boss Andrea Stella suggested Red Bull's Max Verstappen, who took evasive action that carried him illegally ahead of Piastri momentarily, had made the Australian's offence look worse than it was.
"We'll have to see if other competitors kind of made the situation look worse than what it is, because we know that as part of the race craft of some competitors definitely there is also the ability to make others look like they are causing severe infringement when they are not," said the Italian.
"So a few things to review but now the penalty has been decided, has been served, we move on.
"I think we will see if there is anything to learn on our side and I'm sure Oscar will use this motivation for being even more determined for the races to come and trying to win as many races as possible."
McLaren are galloping away with both titles, with their insistence that it is not a two-horse race sounding increasingly hollow.
Reigning champion Verstappen is still third but now a massive 69 points behind Piastri while McLaren have scored more than twice as many points as closest rivals Ferrari and are 238 clear.
"Oscar is a very fast, very strong, very determined driver," said Stella.
"He proved that today, it didn't lead to a win but I'm sure it will lead to many more wins this season already."
To put it into perspective, McLaren have scored more points than Ferrari and third-placed Mercedes combined. The 460 points is also more than the 392 scored by the remaining seven teams together.
Piastri has won five times, Norris four and McLaren have had five one-two finishes in 12 races.
If they continue at their present rate of scoring, McLaren will eclipse last year's points haul of 666 long before the end of the campaign.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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