Close but distant. The podium continues to be a difficult dream to grasp for Oscar Piastri who, just like at Silverstone, also in Hungary remained in the fight for a trophy for a long time, at least before colliding with Sergio Perez’s comeback.
After a good start in which he managed to gain second position from Lewis Hamilton, with the latter slowed down by the duel with Max Verstappen in turn one, the Australian remained in second position for a long time right behind the Dutchman. However, at the first stop, McLaren called team-mate Lando Norris first, in order to protect the Briton from a possible undercut by the seven-times world champion from Mercedes.
Due to this early pit stop, Piastri thus lost the position on Norris, having to start watching his back from the comebacks of his rivals.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W14, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, the rest of the grid at the start
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
“Maybe the undercut was a lot bigger than we expected. Ultimately, it didn’t change my race. It’s clear that I didn’t have the pace to be with Lando or to challenge him, so, in short, it’s something we can evaluate. As far as I’m concerned, the most important thing to do is analyze tire management. You can have the best starts and the best stints in the world, but if you can’t hold on for the two [stint] later, then it doesn’t matter”, said the papaya team driver at the end of the race.
“It’s one of the first races where I’ve had a race with so much degradation, with several pit stops. So I have a lot to learn. But yeah, I think that was the key to my race today. I think I made life easy in the first stint, but then things cleared up. So, there’s a lot to review. There are many things to improve, but having the difficulties I had and still finishing in the top five is a good position.”
During the second pit stop, McLaren was forced to run in defence, recalling the Australian at the right moment to avoid the undercut either by the British or by Sergio Perez, who stopped at the same time. However, the mechanics of the Milton Keynes team proved to be particularly effective, completing the stop in less than two seconds (a new season record), thus allowing the Mexican to recover another nine tenths on his McLaren rival.
Despite a lower pace, Piastri tried to defend himself, also trying to resist on the outside of turn two after a small contact in turn one. However, there was very little that could be done for the Australian, above all considering the vertical collapse suffered in the last stint, also due to damage to the fund which negatively affected hedge management.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60
Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images
Andrea Stella stressed that the driver had actually been informed of this problem, but Piastri did not want to make excuses, emphasizing that, in any case, he needs to improve on tire management: “I’m pretty sure we informed him. In all honesty, Oscar is one guy who doesn’t make excuses. So he doesn’t surprise me that he didn’t mention it. We believe the damage actually occurred when he went wide on a curb, not necessarily just that [in quel momento] when he went off the track while fighting with Perez,” explained Andrea Stella, with the engineers noticing the damage thanks to the pressure sensors mounted in the lower part of the floor.
“So there may be multiple times when the damage to the car has occurred. At the same time, yes, we also need to consider how the tires have been used in regards to degradation. For example, pushing this thing at the start of the stint pays off. For example, if you see how Hamilton approaches the stint, he goes very, very slow at the start, and then I think at the end of the stint there is a reward for that kind of setup. It’s always difficult, from inside the car”.
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