Martin Brundle observed a profound disappointment in Oscar Piastri following the Qatar GP. The Australian seemed on track for a convincing victory, but a strategic miscalculation by McLaren forced him back to second place. Piastri lost the lead to Max Verstappen and watched as the Dutchman overtook him in the championship. The Australian can still become champion during the final race in Abu Dhabi, but is clearly at a disadvantage.
McLaren decided not to come in for fresh tires during an early safety car. As a result, Norris and Piastri – in accordance with Pirelli’s special tire rules – had to come in twice more. The rest of the field did take advantage of this ‘free’ pit stop and gained a significant advantage over the McLarens. After the race, Piastri let it be known over the team radio that he was ‘at a loss for words’ for what had happened. Martin Brundle, who got to interview Piastri on the grid after the race, saw the disappointment.
‘Piastri was shattered’
“Of course, they both should have come in, or they should have split the strategy,” Brundle later explained on Sky Sports. “In hindsight, we can easily talk, but they clearly made a crucial mistake there and it cost McLaren a significant victory.” The Brit tried to speak to Piastri after the race, but noticed how upset the McLaren driver was. “I tried to get some words out of Lando Norris after the race, but he was shattered. He had dominated the entire weekend and was by far the fastest driver on this circuit.”
Later, Piastri appeared before Brundle’s microphone: “I feel awful, you understand that,” he sighed. “We just didn’t estimate the strategy correctly. Besides, the pace was very high and I personally didn’t do anything wrong. So yes, this is just a shame. I trusted that the team would choose the right strategy, they had more information than I did. But yes.” Piastri is now 16 points behind teammate Lando Norris and 4 points behind Max Verstappen. “I’m just going to try, just like this weekend,” he set his sights on Abu Dhabi. “I was more than good enough to dominate this weekend and if I can do that in Abu Dhabi as well, I’m a happy man.”
