‘Speechless’ Oscar Piastri fumes at McLaren tactical mistake in Qatar GP
Oscar Piastri slipped to third in the standings after his P2 in Qatar.
An audibly angry Oscar Piastri was left “speechless” after strategy choices from McLaren gifted Max Verstappen the win in Qatar.
A perfect weekend from Piastri was halted at the final hurdle as McLaren opted to not bring in their drivers during an early safety car.
Oscar Piastri reacts to Qatar GP mistake
A clash between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg in lap 7 prompted a busy pit lane as almost every driver took the opportunity for a stop except the two McLaren drivers who both stayed out.
Come the end of the safety car, the two were the only drivers on track on old rubber and put them at a distant distance for the reach of the race. In the end, Piastri pitted late in an attempt to overtake Verstappen but ultimately finished almost eight seconds behind him.
At the end of a weekend that saw Piastri move to third in the rankings, he was left “speechless” over the team radio.
“Speechless,” he told race engineer Tom Stallard. “I don’t have any words.”
After he was out of the car, Piastri said it was “pretty obvious” in hindsight that McLaren should have pitted when everyone else did.
“Clearly we didn’t get it right tonight,” Piastri, who trails leader Lando Norris by 16 points ahead of the season finale, said. “I drove the best race that I could, as fast as I could and there was nothing left out there, so tried my best, but wasn’t to be tonight.
“Think in hindsight, it’s pretty obvious what we should have done, but I’m sure we’ll discuss it as a team.
“It’s not all bad. Obviously, it’s been a really good weekend. The pace has been very strong but obviously a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
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