Mercedes F1’s remarkable pace has sparked debate on their resurgence as a leading team in the championship.
Did Oscar Piastri wish Lando Norris had played more of a team game at the Canadian Grand Prix? Could it have prevented him from finishing 5th, behind the Mercedes F1? That’s the question gently posed by the McLaren F1 driver…
After the Carlos Sainz-Alexander Albon crash, the safety car came out; George Russell and Lewis Hamilton pitted (they were then 3rd and 5th) for new tires. Like Max Verstappen, the two McLaren F1s, Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri, stayed out on track.
At the restart, Oscar Piastri fell out of Lando Norris’s DRS zone (who had DRS by following Max Verstappen). At that moment, it could have been possible for Lando Norris to slow down slightly, giving Piastri the DRS back and preventing him from being overtaken by the Mercedes F1.
But that didn’t happen… however, Oscar Piastri doesn’t blame his teammate. After all, it could have put him at risk too. Especially since the Mercedes F1 were flying.
The Australian admits he still thought about asking Lando to give him the DRS back…
“That’s what I wanted, but I’m not sure it would have been the best choice as a team.”
“That would have meant the Mercedes getting closer to Lando because once they passed me, towards the end of the race, they were over a second faster per lap. At that point in the race, it would have been helpful, but I’m not sure it would have been the right decision.”
“George made a small mistake and we fought, then he battled with Lewis, so I think without that, they would probably have finished second and third anyway. To be honest, I wasn’t really concerned about Max at that point – I felt I was staying with Lando, but I knew the Mercedes would be fast with the new tires.”
On lap 63, George Russell’s DRS-assisted overtake on Oscar Piastri was very tight at the last chicane. There was even contact between the two cars. But the McLaren F1 driver doesn’t hold it too much against his colleague.
“I need to look at that again. I think it’s an incredibly hard corner to dive into. And yes, you have to be very brave to go around the outside of another car. In the end, he still got past. I don’t think it really changed the result, but I hope it was entertaining.”
Could Oscar Piastri have resisted the Mercedes F1?
“It was very tight until I found myself behind the Mercedes and realized they were on a mission – and it would have been incredibly difficult to keep them behind until the end. I was the first car in their sights and I did my best to stay ahead, but they were clearly faster than everyone else.”
“It’s disappointing, because we had been aiming for the podium for a while, but it’s still a good points haul. In a weekend where everything could have gone wrong, as it did for others, scoring so many points is a good result.”
Is Mercedes F1 becoming a leading team again?
Now, the paddock wonders if with the developments of the W15, Mercedes F1 isn’t back in the fight for podiums or even better…
Is Oscar Piastri also surprised by the resurgence of Mercedes F1?
“The fact that they were fast wasn’t a big surprise. I think it’s the fact that they were so fast that was. During EL3, with Lewis’s best lap, we were scratching our heads. We understood why after the session, but during the session, we could never have gotten close to them. Even in Q2, I couldn’t have found half a second to catch up to George. So, I think they were very fast this weekend.”
“The Mercedes F1 made good use of the tires. And you could see that the intermediates gave them a bit of trouble at times. So, yes, it was perhaps just a stronger weekend for them. But it wasn’t completely unexpected. At Monaco, they seemed very strong at times. And yes, this weekend in Montreal, they were very strong.”
Mercedes F1 on a Mission: Are They Top Contenders Again?. Mercedes F1 on a Mission: Are They Top Contenders Again?
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