Oscar Piastri appeared to call out McLaren’s strategy choice after he lost the Qatar Grand Prix to Max Verstappen.
Piastri started on pole for the Grand Prix in Lusail and kept the lead going into the first few corners, but an early Safety Car was called out following a collision between Pierre Gasly and Nico Hulkenberg.
It triggered an early round of pit stops as almost the entire grid opted to pit on the seventh lap, except for the McLaren duo of Piastri and teammate Lando Norris.
Due to safety concerns, drivers’ stints were limited to 25 laps per set of tyres, and so there were two stops at least for all cars.
It meant the McLaren pair were out of sync with the bulk of the rest of the field, and it led to Verstappen winning the race ahead of Piastri.
Championship leader Norris finished fourth behind the Williams of Carlos Sainz, whose superb drive took the final podium spot.
It means Norris leads Verstappen by 12 points, with Piastri 16 points behind his teammate as the destiny of the Drivers’ Championship will go down to next weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi.
Both Norris and Piastri are seeking their first title, while Verstappen is seeking to claim his fifth Drivers’ Championship crown in a row, which would be a stunning achievement given the relative performance of the McLaren and Red Bulls cars over the season.
F1 title protagonists Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Max Verstappen. (Image: Getty)
Immediately after the race, the top three gave interviews to Martin Brundle and Verstappen believes Red Bull made the right call to pit under the early Safety Car to help keep his title hopes alive.
Verstappen said: “This was an incredible race for us. We made the right call as a team to box under that Safety Car. That was smart.
“I’m super happy to win here. We stay in the fight until the end. Incredible!
“It was a very strong race on a weekend that was a bit tough but we won the race and that was important.”
The Dutchman also called McLaren’s decision to not bring their drivers in as an ‘interesting move’ before Brundle turned to second-placed finisher Piastri, who said he was ‘speechless’ over team radio after the chequered flag.
The Australian gave an awkward interview stood right next to Verstappen and essentially admitted the team’s decision not to pit was the wrong one.
He said: “Clearly we didn’t get it right tonight.
“I drove the best race that I could and as fast as I could. There was nothing left out there.
“I tried my best but it wasn’t to be tonight unfortunately.
“I think in hindsight it’s pretty obvious what we would have done, but I’m sure we’ll discuss it as a team.
“It’s not all bad. It’s been a really good weekend and the pace has been very strong.
“Obviously it’s a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
