Oscar Piastri faces critical Max Verstappen decision after ruthless George Russell comment

The mood in the cooldown room said it all. was jubilant after reeling off his second win of the year, with also beaming following a strong recovery drive to second. , meanwhile, was slumped over in his chair. Things could have looked very different, though, had the picture at Turn Two on the opening lap looked different. Piastri, fresh from securing his third pole position of the season, enjoyed an excellent launch and boxed George Russell in behind him.

However, the Aussie made a critical error, failing to cover off Verstappen on the outside. Verstappen knew his chances of winning hinged on exiting the first corner ahead, as McLaren's long run pace in Friday practice looked ominous. His move, then, was obvious - launch it around the outside at Turn One in an attack later described by team principal Christian Horner as "win it or bin it".

Piastri should have seen this coming. Verstappen has not shied away from similar do-or-die overtaking attempts in the past. And yet, on this occasion, it was entirely unavoidable. If the McLaren man had crept across the racing line and covered off the outside in the braking zone, Verstappen may well have exited Turn Two behind Russell as well.

Instead, he lunged around the outside, claiming the corner and the entitled room that comes with it. From there, he scampered off up the road, leaving Piastri and McLaren to roll the dice on an ultimately unsuccessful undercut strategy.

Russell's on-board reaction told the full story. After swearing in exclamation, he continued: "Piastri, what is he doing?" After the chequered flag, he offered some more words of wisdom to the McLaren driver. "If you leave the door open, you know Max is gonna take it," he said. "And, it was. The door was open, and he took it."

And so, Piastri heads to the Monaco Grand Prix with a clear directive: if he gets pole, he must cover off Verstappen's lunges at all costs. Sunday's race is an opportunity to resume the status quo and bounce back, with pole position - strategy blunders aside - likely to determine the finishing order.

The gap between Piastri and Verstappen now stands at 22 points, but McLaren will be kicking themselves to have allowed the Dutchman to hang so close. With all eyes on the Spanish Grand Prix technical directive in two weeks' time, the Woking squad's advantage may be whittled down even more.

At least Piastri knows where he went wrong. "I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max," he confessed in Imola. "So, yeah, I'll learn for next time clearly. But at that point, I wasn't overly concerned about not being in the lead."