Oscar Piastri was involved in an awkward moment with ex-Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle on Sunday ahead of the Singapore Grand Prix, which spilled over onto social media after the race.
Brundle was completing his traditional grid walk for Sky Sports F1 when he started interviewing Piastri, before suddenly moving to Esteban Ocon to wish him a happy birthday.
The ex-racer turned pundit then quickly turned back to where he was talking to Piastri, only to realise that the McLaren driver had gone.
At the time, it came across as very rude from Brundle, with Piastri having decided to just walk off after Brundle aborted his conversation with him.
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However, the Aussie has seen the funny side of the moment and joked on social media that himself and Brundle could “finish” their talk at the Japanese Grand Prix this weekend, before noting that he would’ve also wished Ocon a happy birthday if in the pundit’s position.
“Shall we finish that interview in Suzuka @MBrundleF1?” Piastri wrote on Twitter/X, along with a series of winking and laughing emojis.
In another tweet, Piastri added: “FWIW (for what it’s worth), I’d have done the same. Happy birthday @OconEsteban.”
Brundle quickly responded and apologised to the young star, before admitting that it wasn’t his “finest gridwalk moment”.
“Um, yes sorry about that Oscar, wasn’t my finest gridwalk moment in 26 years,” Brundle replied.
“Just wanted to wish Esteban happy birthday as he strode past, but you were DRS open and full battery and quite rightly dropped me like an Aussie Rules rookie.”
When the racing got underway, the 22-year-old put on a tremendous display to make up 10 positions, after starting in 17th.
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He cross the line in P7 ahead of Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, with the McLaren driver admitting after the race that he was “pretty happy” with his performance.
“P7. Not a bad night’s work! Obviously, our pace was decent, and I feel that I took advantage of the stuff going on around me after a good first lap. All-in-all, pretty happy with that,” Piastri said, as reported by The Express.
“I don’t think there was too much left on the table there. It’s great to see Lando on the podium and for the team to be rewarded for all their hard work. I’m looking forward to the upgrades next week and hopefully, we can have some more fun.”