F1 star reveals Verstappen won race after getting ‘PLASTERED’

Oscar Piastri has acknowledged that world champion Max Verstappen, likely still suffering from a monster hangover, once defeated him at 200 mph.

The Australian partook in a progression of firsts in his new kid on the block season. He scored his first grand prix podium and his first victory, albeit in a sprint rather than a full race.

The McLaren driver also competed for the first time at a number of new tracks and learned how to handle his first wet-weather race.

The Australian Piastri had a fantastic weekend in Qatar, where he made his F1 debut.

He secured pole position in the sprint shootout and went on to win the Saturday dash, one of the few times Max Verstappen was beaten completely in 2023, despite earning a slightly disappointing P6 in qualifying.

However, in getting back home second, Verstappen did what’s necessary to guarantee his third consecutive title crown – and appropriately hit the tiles to celebrate in style. That didn’t stop him from winning the main event on Sunday in a 42-degree heat.

A ‘respectable’ evening out on the town

“We were talking about that in the cooldown room really, so I was extremely mindful I got beaten by somebody who had a respectable evening out on the town,” Piastri told the Eff Won with DRS digital broadcast, after the host guaranteed Christian Horner let him know that Verstappen had gotten ‘put’ the night prior to the race.

“Yet, when you bring home a big showdown it is justified, so I can’t say I wouldn’t do likewise in the event that I was in his situation.”

Verstappen’s performance merits even more praise in light of the debilitating circumstances of that race, which saw numerous drivers require hospitalization.

Yet, taking into account that Piastri’s run triumph was one of just two occasions everything season where the Red Bull was beaten – the other being Carlos Sainz’s triumph in the Singapore Great Prix – the new kid on the block merits only recognition for his presentation.