Oscar Piastri reveals 'awkward' Lewis Hamilton encounter - 'Was not in a chatty mood'

Oscar Piastri has opened up on an "awkward" exchange he had with earlier this season.

The Australian racer's sophomore campaign in has been a tremendous success. He is fourth in the drivers' championship with six rounds to go, having won two Grands Prix and stood on the podium a further five times.

One of those impressive results came at the , the final race before the summer break. He finished third on the road but that was later upgraded to second place after winner was disqualified when his failed post-race checks.

Hamilton inherited the victory from his team-mate. But before any of that happened, racer Piastri said the seven-time F1 champion wasn't in the best of moods anyway having felt he should have won on the road.

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Asked by what his most awkward experience of a post-race cool down room was, that Spa-Francorchamps event sprang to mind for the 23-year-old who said: "I have not been in that many, but the most awkward one was after Spa, where George won and Lewis finished second."

Recalling details of the moments after that race ended, Piastri added: "I finished third on the road, and then, of course, George got disqualified. It was tense. Lewis drove a great race. In a lot of circumstances, he should have won that race pretty comfortably.

"So I understood exactly how he was feeling at that point. I could very much sense that Lewis did not want to be... he was not in a chatty mood, so I just watched and looked at the highlights in silence and kept to myself."

Piastri was also asked about his relationships with his fellow F1 drivers, including the foursome he would take with him on a night out if given the chance. His reply was: "I like the very occasional night out, but I'm more of a 'relaxed dinner with good food' kind of guy.

"Daniel Ricciardo is always good fun, Lando [Norris] is good fun if you want to evolve towards a night out - a solid starting line-up already. I would take Alex Albon as well, and I would take Logan Sargeant. That would by my four people to take to dinner."

Going into further details about how F1 drivers balance competition and friendship, he explained: "There are basically 20 people in the who know what you are experiencing and know what your life is like, but also they are your direct competition. So it is an interesting mix... Having true friends on the grid is pretty difficult."