Oscar Piastri has denied that a change in rear wing design represented the “biggest problem” behind McLaren’s trouble in the wet at Formula 1‘s Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
McLaren emerged as the benchmark side in a dry Sprint race in Brazil as polesitter Piastri adhered to a call to cede the lead to team-mate Lando Norris, who led a 1-2.
But while Norris took pole in the wet on Sunday morning, McLaren‘s pace wasn’t as competitive in the main race as he came home in sixth place, with Piastri in eighth.
The Briton committing numerous mistakes contributed to his plight down the order, which began when he lost his advantage at the start to Mercedes’ George Russell.
Norris was unable to regain the place in the opening stint, while Piastri being stuck behind Liam Lawson led to a clash at Turn 1 which saw him penalised 10 seconds.
Both Norris and Piastri endured more frustration across the closing stages at Interlagos as neither driver was able to make an impression on Charles Leclerc’s Ferrari.
However, Piastri has dismissed that McLaren’s straight-line speed deficit to rival teams provided an overriding reason behind its struggle to make progress in the race.
“Yeah, top speed didn’t seem great, but I don’t think that was our biggest problem,” Piastri told media including Motorsport Week.
“We were obviously gaining in the corners with the downforce we had but really not enough.
“So I think we need to understand a bit better, because the first half of the race we looked really quick and in the second half of the race both cars seemed to struggle a lot more.”
McLaren rear wing choice not a ‘limitation’
McLaren’s returning straight-line speed shortcoming in the wet came amid the decision to switch out the new medium and low downforce rear wing it had introduced.
The revision to that area paid dividends in the Sprint as the Woking-based squad combined its prowess through the corners with not being vulnerable on the straights.
But the deluge that arrived on Sunday prompted McLaren to change to a more loaded rear-wing configuration to combat the treacherous conditions that were present.
When asked whether that locked McLaren into the top-speed shortage that hampered the team’s advances, Piastri responded: “I’m not sure how limiting it was.
“You could argue in qualifying it helped with the extra downforce and in the race it should have helped in the majority of the lap.
“The first half of the race, yes, maybe you could argue it was holding us back a bit because we were stuck behind cars.
“But the second half we weren’t stuck behind cars, we were just slow.
“So I think it doesn’t really matter what rear wing we had on, the second half, we weren’t really gonna finish any better.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri: ‘Dangerous’ F1 Brazil GP exposed Wet tyre issues
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