SUZUKA, Japan (Reuters) – McLaren’s Oscar Piastri was happy to be a new addition to what has jokingly been dubbed the Max Verstappen podcast after taking his first Formula One podium in Japan on Sunday.
Red Bull’s championship leader Verstappen has appeared in the cool-down room — where cameras and microphones catch the gestures and comments of the top three drivers — after all but one of 16 races this season.
On social media the pre-podium moment has been likened to a recording studio with Verstappen as host.
Red Bull have seen the funny side, advising on social media when Verstappen finished fifth in Singapore last weekend that “The Cool-down Room podcast with Max will return at a later date”.
“It’s back,” they declared on Sunday after Verstappen romped to his 13th victory of the season ahead of McLaren’s Lando Norris and Australian rookie Piastri.
Norris alluded to “Max’s podcast” while waiting.
Asked about it afterwards, Verstappen himself seemed less impressed: “I don’t even know who came up with that because I don’t even like podcasts, they make me fall asleep.
“Maybe we can call it something different. Or come up with something a bit more fun.”
Piastri told reporters he was “just happy to be a guest”.
After starting a grand prix on the front row for the first time, the 22-year-old lost out to Norris at the start but said third still felt pretty special.
“There’s not many people in the world that get this opportunity in their whole life and I’ve managed to have it in my first season, so thank you very much to the team,” he said.
“It wasn’t my best race ever but it was enough to get a trophy at the end. So, super-happy.”
Piastri, whose contract extension to the end of 2026 was announced earlier in the week, recognised he still had a lot to learn.
“I just wasn’t quick enough at certain points of the race, I think,” he said.
“In all the junior racing before this there are no races like this. So the only way you can learn from it is by just doing the races.
“Definitely a few things, had I had this race again, that I would have done a bit different. But that’s all part of the learning.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, Editing by Hugh Lawson)
