Oscar Piastri praised by McLaren boss after Brazilian GP crash as silver lining uncovered

Andrea Stella praised Oscar Piastri's 'very functional mind' and put emphasis on the team's impressive speed when analysing the Australian racer's disastrous Brazilian Grand Prix sprint race crash.

Piastri was running third behind team-mate Lando Norris and Mercedes' Kimi Antonelli when he ran over a wet kerb on the exit of Turn Two. His MCL39 machine was sent pirhouletting into the outside wall, bringing his race to a premature end on lap eight. Nico Hulkenberg and Franco Colapinto then followed him into the barriers after making the same error.

Norris, meanwhile, continued unscathed to follow up his Mexican Grand Prix win with a sprint triumph, and Max Verstappen also gained ground on the Aussie after following the Mercedes cars home in fourth place. Piastri is now nine points behind his team-mate in the World Championship standings.

"Mixed feelings, because we got a victory with Lando, but we were in a strong position with Oscar," team principal Stella told Sky Sports F1 after the chequered flag. "Unfortunately, in these tricky conditions, you put a wheel too far, and we saw three cars in a single lap at the same point, all in the barriers.

"It's just an episode - Oscar has been fast this weekend, so we look forward now to reorganising, regrouping, repairing the car and capitalising on the speed. He has a very functional mind... The most important point is that the speed is there. It's just an episode when you put a wheel on a wet kerb and you lose it."

Understandably, Piastri wasn't in the mood to delve deep into his latest mishap when confronted with the TV pen. "I've just got to try to put this behind me," he declared. "There's a lot more points on offer tomorrow."

Norris is now in a golden position to stretch out a significant advantage in the Drivers' Championship battle heading into the season-ending triple-header. The Brit boasted just about enough pace to hold off Mercedes' drivers in the sprint, and now has momentum on his side.

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Even more importantly, Verstappen and Red Bull do not have the resources to fight McLaren at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace. The reigning world champion qualified sixth and finished fourth on Saturday, expressing unhappiness with his car on the radio.

"We will make some changes and hopefully that will bring the car into a better window," Verstappen explained after the sprint, plotting out a path forward.

"Hopefully, that will also allow us to push a little bit better on the tyres, and we'll see what happens, because like this, you're in no-man's land. I couldn't stay with the guys ahead. If we find a little bit more, maybe I can fight with the Mercedes."