Oscar Piastri has had to settle for second after a dramatic Sunday in Austria, when he twice came perilously close to crashing.
Piastri's McLaren teammate Lando Norris claimed victory in the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix, reducing the Australian's lead in the drivers' championship to 15 points.
The battle for the drivers' championship appears to be down to the McLaren duo, after Red Bull's Max Verstappen retired on lap one after being taken out by Mercedes teen Kimi Antonelli.
But Piastri came very close to having an accident which could have wiped away his world championship lead.
The Australian came out of the pits on lap 54, attempting to hunt down Norris, who was four seconds up the road.
Piastri approached the back of a battle between Red Bull's Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine's Franco Colapinto, who were required to let the Australian lap them.
Going down the back straight Colapinto, who told his team he could not see the McLaren driver, drifted right and pushed Piastri wide. More than half of Piastri's car was on the grass as the McLaren ace wrestled his car to keep it pointing in the right direction.
Colapinto darted to the left just in time, allowing Piastri to get back on the track, but the time loss took away the Australian's realistic chance of catching his teammate ahead.
Piastri was furious over the team radio as his chances of winning ended there, in a moment that risked ending his race early.
"Alpine still managed to find a way to f*** me after all these years later, huh," he said over his team radio.
Piastri was once a reserve driver for Alpine and defected to McLaren after the French outfit infamously announced him as a full-time driver for the 2023 season, despite not offering him a contract.
Starting from third, but climbing to second on the first lap, Piastri had chances early to take the lead from Norris.
The Australian briefly led on lap 11 of 70 down the back straight, before Norris was able to take the inside line into the tight corner.
A fortnight on from Norris running into the back of Piastri, the Australian came perilously close to crashing on lap 20.
He went for an audacious lunge inside Norris, locked his wheels, and just managed to stop the car before collecting his teammate.
"I tried my absolute best, probably could have done a better job when I just got ahead," Piastri said.
"A good battle, probably pushed the limits a little far. Close, but not quite enough."
Drama before the start as Williams catches fire in the pits
The Austrian Grand Prix had chaos before the race commenced.
As the drivers went off for the formation lap, Williams driver Carlos Sainz remained stationary on the grid.
Sainz told his team his car was stuck in first gear and would not move.
The Spaniard was finally able to get moving as the other 19 cars were approaching the grid for the race start — which was aborted.
Drama turned to bedlam when Sainz was able to make it around the circuit and go into the pits. From there, Sainz's car then caught fire.
That ended the Spaniard's day as team members and marshals fought to extinguish the flames.
Neither Williams driver was able to finish the race, with Alex Albon retiring early in the grand prix.
Relive the action of the Formula 1 Austrian Grand Prix with the ABC Sport live blog.
[blog]
