F1 | Plastri fourth but frustrated: “It was impossible to pass Lewis”

Twelve points in the bag and some certainties in view of the next events. This is the spoils with which McLaren and Oscar Piastri left Saudi Arabia, thanks to a fourth place under the checkered flag which highlighted both the weak and strong points of the MCL38.

The British single-seater has shown that it still has to grow to be able to consistently challenge its high-ranking rivals, but this is not entirely a surprise, because McLaren was already aware of the fact that the new single-seater had not reached all its development targets. for the winter.

In Jeddah this aspect emerged quite clearly and, to a large extent, the defects of the latest addition are reminiscent of those of the MCL60, such as the top speeds lower than its rivals, particularly with low load packages, and the difficulties in cornering long distance. Specifically, the issue of poor speed on the straights and low efficiency with open DRS had an impact on both qualifying and the race.

After a good start in which Oscar Piastri was able to climb back to fourth place, with the dream of trying to annoy Charles Leclerc in the fight for the podium, the entry of the Safety Car for Lance Stroll's accident completely changed the plans. McLaren chose to diversify the strategies between the two drivers, having the Australian return to the pits, while Lando Norris remained on the track, thus taking the lead of the race. A tactic similar to the one followed by Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton, who thus overtook Piastri, starting a duel that would last for well over 20 laps.

Although it was clear that the Australian had a more competitive pace than the British Star, managing to complete the overtaking proved to be more complicated than hoped, also thanks to the clear difference in speed between the two single-seaters. The W15 was in fact among the fastest cars on the straights of the lot, having opted for a very unloaded rear wing, in a scenario substantially opposite to that of the MCL60. If this aspect had a negative impact in qualifying, in the race this choice proved to be a double-edged sword: on the one hand it guaranteed good tire management over the distance and a convincing pace in clean air, but on the other it made overtaking is even more complex.

On several occasions Piastri tried to overtake his rival, but without luck, finding himself too far away when carrying out the attack. Furthermore, although it is true that McLaren made the first sector one of its strong points throughout the weekend, remaining in the wake of another car it was not able to make the difference seen on the flying lap, thus prolonging an agony that lasted for over twenty laps.

The Australian, in reality, never managed to complete the overtaking, and only gained the position when Hamilton returned to the pits to complete his mandatory stop by switching to the soft compound for the final part of the race. From that moment on, in reality, the pace maintained by Piastri was quite competitive and not far from that of Charles Leclerc, further ahead in third position. Beating the Red would realistically have been very complicated, but the gap could have been much smaller.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes F1 W15, Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images

“I'm not sure if the word funny is the one I would use,” said the McLaren man to describe his long duel with the Briton from Mercedes, which cost him several seconds in terms of potential pace.

“[La definirei] Frustrating, yes. In short, I think you showed a couple of our weaknesses. I felt very relieved when he got out of the way, but I didn't have enough margin on the straights to overtake him,” he then added, underlining one of the car's weak points, which remains the top speeds on the straights. McLaren presented itself with a wing with less drag than the one used in Bahrain, as did many other teams: nevertheless, it was not among the weakest on the grid and this especially penalized open DRS.

“I was hoping that [Hamilton] he would have stopped about 15 laps before, but I think he started to struggle with the tires because, when he stopped, I would almost have passed him, so yes, I think he had to stop at some point. The only thing I could have done was cut off the wing! We didn't have the speed to pass him or do anything, it was almost impossible, while they had one of the highest speeds. That made it more difficult than I would have liked.”

Piastri then opened up to a discussion on the values ​​on the field compared to Mercedes, underlining how performances will continue to vary depending on the characteristics of the tracks, which will highlight different strengths of the cars: “I think we are very close. I think we have different strengths and weaknesses. And I think qualifying made the difference today. I think Lewis showed that if we had qualified behind them, there would have been a good chance of staying behind them for the whole race,” explained the Australian. Piastri, in fact, managed to qualify ahead of both Mercedes, but lost position due to the entry of the Safety Car.

Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL38

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

If on the one hand the McLaren driver said he was frustrated at the time lost behind Hamilton, on the other his Team Principal praised his weekend, highlighting not only the good performance in the race, but also in qualifying.

“Oscar's race was a real redemption of the result already obtained in qualifying, when he was able to finish in fifth place and in the race he managed to gain another position. It was a very clean and solid race, staying out of trouble, in which he proved himself to be fast, but also patient, when you have to be patient and you don't have to, you know, get nervous, like I couldn't pass Hamilton, I'll attack more here.” , said Andrea Stella, underlining how important it was to stay calm and not get nervous, especially on a track like Jeddah where a small mistake can send you against the wall.

“We are very satisfied, but not surprised. We're not surprised, because we spend a lot of time with Oscar, we see all the details, we see all the data. And we know that the potential is very high. And we know that his consistency from a competitive and mental point of view is strong. And I think I've always said that this aspect of him, the way he stays calm and makes sure he takes full advantage of his talent, I think is his strongest characteristic.”