McLaren driver Oscar Piastri almost caused a risky incident after a mishap during his second pit stop at Spa. The Australian refutes the idea that he could have achieved a better result without his mistake.
Oscar Piastri of McLaren displayed impressive speed throughout the race, especially after his second stop. While early race leaders Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc opted for an early second stop, Piastri chose to stay out on track to prolong his second stint.
The winner of the Hungarian Grand Prix capitalized on the grip advantage of his fresh tires to catch up to Leclerc and overtake the Monegasque driver. In the final laps of the 44-lap Belgian Grand Prix, Piastri closed in on the leading duo of Russell and Hamilton but ran out of time to make a passing move.
However, his progress was hindered when he pitted from the lead on Lap 31 and overshot his box, resulting in a 4.4-second stop.
Reflecting on his mistake, Piastri commented: “No, I just came in a bit too fast. I noticed that there was a lot of grip in the pit lane on Friday, and I was consistently not stopping at the right spot.”
“Even my first pit stop was slightly off. I had to brake a bit because of Lewis coming out, so maybe I was entering a bit cautiously, but the second one was clearly too much.”
“It wasn’t my finest moment. I don’t think it impacted much in the grand scheme of things. It probably just meant I would have been stuck behind Lewis and George for another lap or two at the end. But yeah, it’s definitely something I need to improve on for the upcoming races,” Piastri added.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella had a different perspective, stating that Piastri’s mistake proved costly at the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Oscar immediately apologized for the pit stop error on the radio during his in-lap because he realized it could have been costly. It potentially meant he would have been stuck behind Hamilton but could also have been in a position to attack.”
“So, I think the one-and-a-half to two-second delay in the pit stop ultimately proved to be quite costly. Additionally, being behind Leclerc earlier with fresher tires would have made overtaking easier for him.”
“We need to work with the drivers to ensure that even in high-pressure moments, they don’t make mistakes at the pit stop position because it can have significant consequences. We faced something similar at Silverstone as well,” Stella explained.
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