Another obstacle to victory
After the 2nd place achieved in Austria following the contact between Norris and Verstappen, with the possibility of victory mainly hindered by the disallowed fastest lap in qualifying, Oscar Plates leaves Silverstone once again with frustration. This time, it was mainly a mistake by the team that denied him the chance to achieve his first success in F1. leave the Australian on the track one more lap compared to his teammate when switching from slicks to intermediates.
More frustration
A mistake that adds to the one paid dearly by Norris, who together with the team did not opt for the medium tyres in the last stint, copying Hamilton’s choice to fit the soft ones and losing second place to Verstappen: “I can’t help but think that if I had made better decisions we could have actually won. – Piastri admitted to Sky Sports F1 – It’s a bit of a shame to leave this weekend feeling this wayThe most positive thing is to see how fast the car is, we are in an incredible position to score a lot of points and win races, but we need to give ourselves better opportunities to make things happen because we have the car to do it, and for me that is the most difficult part. Now we have to give ourselves better opportunities to exploit them.”
The double pit stop option
An extra lap which therefore cost Piastri a potential victory, with the possibility of being able to make a double pit stop which, according to him, was possible: “The last two corners were very, very difficult, because I could see in the mirrors that Lando was five seconds behind me, and I realised I was in a lot of trouble. – he explained in the post-race press conference – I immediately understood that the choice to stay out one more round was the wrong one. The double stack option was there anyway. Obviously, when the two cars are so close together, you lose a lot of time with the double stack. The conditions were getting complicated, but it was hard to judge. Up until the lap where I was out, the track was only half difficult, then it got complicated. It was difficult for everyone involved, and in hindsight I think the double stacking would have given us a very good chance of winning“.
Chance of victory
Regardless of the disappointment, there is a positive aspect to take into consideration for Piastri: that of having what it takes to finally win. An opportunity that has already presented itself to him and Norris, winner in Miami: “I think the positive thing, but also the negative thing, is that it’s never been the same thing that’s kept us from winning. At Silverstone we made a bad choice. At Imola we had a traffic problem in qualifying. In Austria, the less said about qualifying the better. So I think it’s good that it wasn’t a repeated mistake, but I think there were a good handful of times, both for me and Lando, where we felt we could win the race. I think we have an incredibly fast car.but we just need to capitalize on the use we make of it.”
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