LONDON (Reuters) -McLaren's Formula One championship leader Oscar Piastri said cursing at former employers Alpine over the radio at last weekend's Austrian Grand Prix was just a humorous way of expressing his frustration.
The Australian made a comment after having to go off track to avoid Renault-owned Alpine's Argentine driver Franco Colapinto.
"Alpine still managed to find a way to (expletive) me over all these years later, huh?," he told race engineer Tom Stallard in an exchange not broadcast on television at the time.
Piastri told Reuters at a McLaren fan event in London's Trafalgar Square on Wednesday that his swearing had just been spur of the moment.
"It was just kind of a frustrating coincidence. My qualifying got hampered by an Alpine. I got impeded in the race by both the Alpines. So, it was kind of just a build-up of a few things," he said. "And it was more out of frustration.
"I still have a lot of friends at Alpine. A lot of people that I respect a lot.
"It was just kind of an ironic coincidence that the things that hampered me a bit in the weekend were all with Alpine. But, yeah -- more just me trying to express my humour and frustration in the race."
Piastri joined McLaren after being named by Alpine as their driver for 2023, only for the Australian to very publicly reject the seat with a statement that has become part of Formula One lore.
Then Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer questioned the driver's integrity, and threatened legal action, but McLaren won easily when the matter went to the contract recognition board.
Alpine are now last in the championship, and are still going through turmoil, while McLaren won the constructors' title last year and are runaway favourites again.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Clare Fallon)
