McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has conceded that Oscar Piastri has paid a "bit of a price" after missing first practice ahead of the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The Woking-based outfit replaced Piastri with Leonardo Fornaroli in the opening session on Friday as part of the mandatory requirement for each team to field a rookie driver in four practice sessions.
Stella believes Piastri has struggled at the Hungaroring as a result of missing FP1, particularly because he has had less time to understand the surprisingly low-grip surface.
The track conditions and wind have caught the paddock by surprise, especially after the circuit offered particularly high grip last season.
Piastri was also without McLaren's upgrades in second practice and only received them on Saturday morning. However, Stella does not believe this is the reason he qualified fifth (he starts third following grid penalties for Lewis Hamilton and Kimi Antonelli).
"Oscar, the main impact on his weekend was, I think, the fact that he missed FP1 rather than not having the new components," Stella told select media, including RacingNews365.
"When the conditions are so difficult, you kind of get in tune, from a driving point of view and from a mindset point of view, with what you're going to find out there, which is different to the traditional Hungary.
"Especially compared to Hungary last year, when there was super-high grip, this year it was pretty much a bet in every single corner. We've seen a very uncharacteristic number of mistakes this weekend, I would say, which is just down to the tarmac and the wind conditions.
"So I think Oscar was certainly paying a bit of a price for having missed FP1. Even in FP2, as you say, he still didn't have the new parts."
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