Piastri laments: McLaren strategy robs him of crucial victory in Qatar

Oscar Piastri called the result of the Qatar Grand Prix “painful” after a strategic error by McLaren that cost him a crucial victory before the season finale in Abu Dhabi. Piastri, still in the title fight, saw his chances reduced after finishing second, behind Max Verstappen in Qatar. The Australian driver is now 16 points behind his McLaren teammate and championship leader, Lando Norris, while Verstappen is only 12 points behind Norris. After winning Saturday’s sprint race and securing pole position in Qatar, Piastri was leading Sunday’s Grand Prix when an early safety car presented the opportunity to make one of the two mandatory pit stops with minimal time loss.

McLaren was the only team that didn’t pit under the safety car, which meant that both Piastri and Norris were at a disadvantage against Verstappen for the rest of the race.

Pretty high. And I think that says a lot, given the last races I’ve had.

Oscar Piastri

When asked about his level of frustration with Sunday’s result, Piastri replied:

Yes, we clearly didn’t do well today, which is a shame, because the whole weekend was very, very good. We had a lot of pace.

Oscar Piastri

The missed opportunity came just a week after Piastri and Norris were disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix for a technical infringement, but the Australian said that losing the victory in Qatar hurt more.

I think on a personal level, I feel like I lost a victory today. In Las Vegas, I lost a P4.

Oscar Piastri

Piastri revealed that he questioned the team about whether he should pit under the safety car, but ultimately had to trust McLaren’s pit wall decision.

I asked what we were doing, because we were approaching the pit entry and I hadn’t received a call yet. I think when you don’t get a call instantly when the safety car comes out, there are probably some discussions about what to do.

Oscar Piastri