Oscar Piastri has contended that McLaren committed to “a few wrong calls” during Formula 1‘s Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix as he dropped from pole position to third.
Piastri appeared in a good position to extend his points lead as he lined up on pole with his closest contender, McLaren team-mate Lando Norris, three places behind.
However, the Australian’s race started to unravel when he lost out at the start to Max Verstappen, who completed an audacious late-braking pass through Tamburello.
Piastri, who had covered George Russell on the inside, conceded he was surprised to cede the place, but he denied that it was a decisive turning point in the outcome.
“Yeah, I mean, I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week.
“So, yeah, you know, I’ll learn for next time, clearly.
“But, yeah, I think at that point – I think at that point I wasn’t overly concerned to not be in the lead.
“But, yeah, then our pace just wasn’t as strong as I expected. So that compounded that first corner.”
Piastri ‘disappointed’ with Imola outcome
McLaren opted to bring Piastri in to make a pit stop on Lap 13 – demoting him behind several slower cars in the process – and all but resigning him to a two-stop race.
That second stop occurred on Lap 30 under a Virtual Safety Car period that had enabled both Verstappen and Norris to discard their starting rubber at a reduced loss.
Piastri was promoted into second when Norris boxed under a late Safety Car, but the championship leader was powerless to keep his team-mate behind on new tyres.
“I think, obviously, slight disappointment, probably. It’s never a great day when you start first and finish third,” he rued. “So, yeah, just not a great day.
“I think Turn 1 was not ideal. I think, in the end, our stop timing wasn’t… yeah, I think the race just panned out differently to how we expected in that first stint.
“So then the timing of the VSC and the Safety Car, you know, it was kind of – the race was very tough from very early on.
“So I think, honestly, given people had fresher tyres at the end, hanging on to a podium is not a bad result.
“And you’re going to have tough days in the championship, and this is clearly one of them. So as long as we learn the lessons, then that’s all I can ask.”
Piastri questions McLaren call
Piastri queried whether McLaren’s choice to haul him into the pits when he was sitting close behind Verstappen was a premature decision that compromised his race.
Asked whether it was a clear two-stop at Imola when he pitted, Piastri responded: “Not clear, but I think a lot of people around were struggling.
“I was starting to struggle a bit. We kind of discussed it a bit, I guess.
“But it’s something we still need to go through more and more clearly, because I think, yeah, maybe we reacted a bit too quickly. But, yeah, we’ll have a look.”
READ MORE – Max Verstappen takes F1 Imola GP win after first-lap heroics
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