Oscar Piastri has stated he knew that McLaren’s choice to leave him out an extra lap on slicks on a damp track in Formula 1’s British Grand Prix was “instantly wrong”.
Piastri came home in fourth at Silverstone, one position behind team-mate Lando Norris, as McLaren squandered a potential chance to win the race with both drivers.
The McLaren pairing capitalised on the MCL38 coming alive when the rain descended on the track to pass the two Mercedes drivers to be running in first and second.
Right as Piastri cruised up behind his team-mate and looked primed to pass, the shower increased and Norris headed into the pits while he circulated round on slicks.
McLaren’s decision would unravel to be the incorrect one as the rain got heavier, costing Piastri sizeable time as he tiptoed back to the pits on his Medium compound.
The Australian regained one spot to fourth with a smart call to Mediums later in the race, but he rued that strategic mishap as he wound up 12 seconds from the lead.
“I would say joint [decision], I think to be honest, that decision in the race is probably the hardest call you’re ever going to have in motor racing,” Piastri reflected.
“You’ve got two cars, 1-2, separated by half a second with rain coming down, I don’t think it gets any harder than that, so I think clearly some things we need to review.
“I think double stacking would have been the better call, but hindsight’s a wonderful thing.
“So I think we just need to see if we had any information that told us that was going to be a better choice, but yeah, obviously a little bit painful given the gap to this.”
McLaren boss Andrea Stella has agreed the team should have stopped Piastri with Norris and he’s addressed that he realised the mistake once he began the next lap.
“The last couple of corners were very, very tough and I could see on my dash that Lando was like five seconds behind me when I pitted,” Piastri said.
“So I knew I was in a lot of trouble then, but yeah, I knew it was the wrong call basically instantly.”
Piastri is adamant that McLaren had the potential to stop both cars at the same time, but he has acknowledged that the changeable conditions added complications.
Questioned on whether double stacking was an option at that stage, Piastri replied “Yes, it was. I think we just need to review if we put enough weight on that decision.
“When the two cars are so close like that, you lose a lot of time doing a double stack.
“The conditions were getting trickier, but it was very, very hard to judge, it was only really half of the track that was really difficult until the lap that I stayed out.
“Then the whole track became difficult, so just very, very difficult for everybody involved.
“But yes, I think in hindsight double stacking would have given us a very good chance of winning.”
Piastri has denied that he could have reduced his pace to ensure McLaren stopped him there and then, citing that he was gunning to take the lead to gain preference.
Asked whether he could have slowed to create a gap, he said: “Not really, because I knew if I got in front then it would be my priority because we were going to the pits.
“So yeah, that’s why I say it’s one of the hardest decisions, because you know, I’m trying to get the lead, give myself priority.
“The team, don’t know which cars are going to come in first to the pits. Yeah, it’s just incredibly tough.”
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