'I went to attack Hamilton while Oscar...': Carlos Sainz and Piastri in blame game after collision at Belgian GP

This year’s Belgian Grand Prix turned out to be a dismal outing for Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Oscar Piastri. Sainz and Piastri had to retire from the competition having collided with each other in the opening half of the race. The two drivers kicked off the Belgian Grand Prix from P4 and P5 and ended up clashing with each other in the opening meters of Sunday's competition. The incident left a heavy impact on Sainz's Ferrari leaving the car with a hole in the sidepod. It eventually led to Sainz’s retirement 22 laps later. Piastri also faced a similar fate as he was ruled out of the race.

When asked to share his view on the incident, Carlos Sainz said that Oscar Piastri’s move was quite an “optimistic” one which resulted in the terrifying wreck. “I didn't expect him there, no. I did at one point see him (in my mirrors) that he was on the wall pretty much, but I was more focused on my battle with Lewis. I didn't miss the apex or anything, I went to attack Lewis [Hamilton] and Oscar went to attack Lewis and me, which I think in my opinion was a bit optimistic,” Sainz was quoted as saying by Sky Sports F1.

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Oscar Piastri, who is currently in his rookie season in the Formula One, felt that he did not have much to do to avoid the collision. “I had a good launch and got to Carlos' back wheel. He jinked quite hard to the right, locked up and I had to take a bit of avoidance from that and then by that point I was kind of still there, and with how I had to get out of the brakes it was quite hard to then back out of it fully," the 22-year-old Aussie recalled.

Notwithstanding his early departure at the Belgian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri was in no mood to let the accident take a toll on his impressive weekend. Piastri had claimed the second spot during Saturday's Sprint behind Max Verstappen, who went on to win the Belgian Grand Prix. “Today is a shame but I don't think it takes away the rest of the weekend," Piastri added.

Max Verstappen continued his sublime form to win his eighth consecutive win for Red Bull this season. Despite facing a five-place grid penalty, the defending world champion clinched an emphatic win at the Belgian Grand Prix 22.305 seconds ahead of his Red Bull teammate Sergio Perez. This triumph at the Belgian Grand Prix helped Verstappen extend his lead to 125 points over second-placed Perez in the drivers’ standings. The 25-year-old Dutch racer needs one more victory to equal Sebastian Vettel’s Formula One record of nine wins on the trot.