Oscar Piastri stands by McLaren despite a strategic pit stop blunder that cost him dearly.
Oscar Piastri stated that McLaren F1 was faced with “the most difficult decision in motorsport,” but refrained from criticising the choice not to execute a “double stack” (a dual pit stop for one team) between himself and Lando Norris.
Piastri was just half a second behind leader Norris on lap 27 as rain began to fall on the track, but it was the Australian who was left out, ultimately costing him a chance at the podium or more.
With the rest of the grid switching to intermediates, McLaren had the option to opt for a double stop like Mercedes, or to keep Piastri out on the track in hopes of not losing too much time.
However, he lost too much time, entering the pit with Norris only five seconds behind him just after his own stop. This tactical choice relegated him to 6th place and out of the race for victory.
“I would say the decision to proceed was a joint one. I think, to be honest, this decision in this race is probably the toughest you’ll ever have to make in motorsport.”
“You have two cars, first and second on the track, separated by half a second with rain falling. I don’t think it gets more difficult than that.”
“I clearly think we need to review some things. I think the double stack would have been the better decision, but hindsight is a wonderful thing.”
“We just need to see if we had information that told us it would be a better choice. But obviously, it’s a bit painful given the gap to Lewis.”
“As soon as I passed the pit entry I knew it was the wrong decision. The last two turns were very, very difficult and I could see on my dashboard that Lando was five seconds behind me when I stopped, so I knew I was in great trouble at that moment.”
Regarding how he felt afterwards, Piastri admitted his frustration and said it was good that he hadn’t opened the radio but he was still aiming for victory.
“Obviously frustrated at that moment, but I knew it was still raining and after the first two laps, I could see that the cars in front had clearly worn out their intermediates in those first two laps, so I was actually optimistic at that time.”
“But then, I ran into the same walls as everyone else. I knew we would have more chances later in the race to come back to slicks, with the tyre choice we had.”
“So I knew there would be more opportunities. I just tried to give us the best chance to continue trying to win.”
No Double Pit for Piastri Costs McLaren Dear. No Double Pit for Piastri Costs McLaren Dear
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