Oscar Piastri witnessed Max Verstappen take the lead in the first turn at Imola. The Australian, who is currently leading the championship, could have used a victory but ended up in third place. Lando Norris didn’t fare much better, finishing second, partly due to McLaren’s decision not to issue team orders in the final stages. Former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve believes this was a mistake. According to the 1997 world champion, McLaren should never have allowed the two to race against each other.
Oscar Piastri started the GP Emilia-Romagna from pole position, but the Australian couldn’t enjoy this top spot for long. Max Verstappen overtook him in the Tamburello chicane and maintained the lead for the rest of the race. Piastri tried his best to keep up with Verstappen, which led him to pit for a new set of hard tyres in the thirteenth lap. Meanwhile, Verstappen was able to take advantage of a shortened pit stop during the virtual safety car period.
Piastri only caught up with Verstappen after the second safety car of the afternoon, when the field closed up again. At the restart, Lando Norris, who was behind his teammate due to his own pit stop, asked for a team order from McLaren. The British driver didn’t receive it, even though Piastri’s tyres were in much worse condition. According to former F1 driver Jacques Villeneuve, the team showed ‘weakness’ with the decision to let the two race.
Perceived Weakness
“They are essentially showing weakness,” the former world champion does not mince his words with Sky F1. “They are not demonstrating the strength that Red Bull consistently shows, year after year. It’s as if they are afraid to be aggressive in their attempt to win the drivers’ championship. They are hesitant to challenge Piastri, which is truly very strange.”
Villeneuve finds it odd that McLaren protected the Australian. “Piastri messed up that first turn. He was caught napping. He should never have come out of that turn in second place,” the Canadian continues. “And then he didn’t have the pace, which was strange. Norris had more speed. At the restart, McLaren knew it was only a matter of laps before Norris would overtake Piastri due to the tyre difference. So why would you let Norris lose three laps instead of giving him a chance to chase Verstappen? You don’t want to hand Verstappen victories, as that means more points for him in the drivers’ championship.”
