Oscar Piastri reveals 'painful' McLaren error timeline

Oscar Piastri has shared his experience of McLaren's strategic miscalculation during the Qatar Grand Prix, but maintained "trust" is essential despite the mistake.

The Woking-based squad opted not to pit the Australian and Lando Norris on the seventh lap at the Lusail International Circuit when the safety car was deployed for Nico Hulkenberg's stricken Stake.

Because of the maximum 25-lap stint-length mandate, which ensured at least two stops, it allowed runners to pit for fresh rubber and make it to the end of the 57-lap race with just one more stop.

McLaren was the only team not to bring its drivers in, who were first and third, respectively, at the time. This handed a strategic advantage to eventual winner Max Verstappen, who was on the tail of the MCL39s but only had one more stop to make.

After the race, the constructors' champions explained it did not anticipate all other cars coming in. At the time, the team told its drivers it preferred the flexibility of not being tied to a prescribed second stop on lap 32.

It was costly for both Norris and Piastri, but the latter now finds himself third in the F1 drivers' standings, having lost a near-certain victory and seven crucial points.

Detailing the decision not to pit, the nine-time grand prix winner revealed he had to question the team, which had fallen silent, seemingly amid frantic strategic discussions.

"I asked: 'What are we doing?' Because we were getting pretty close to the pit entry and I hadn’t had a call yet," Piastri told media, including RacingNews365.

"So, you know, I think when you don’t get a call instantly when the safety car comes out, clearly there’s probably some discussions going on about what to do.

"And in that situation, you have to trust the team because they have a lot more information than the driver in the car on where gaps are and stuff like that. So, yeah, I mean, in that scenario I have to trust what the team decide."

'Pretty painful'

Curiously, McLaren decided to keep both Piastri and Norris out when it could have split its approach.

Given the former's advantage over Verstappen and his team-mate, he would have been safe from pit lane chaos and would have retained the lead if he had been brought in.

After finishing second to the Red Bull driver, Piastri told the team he was "speechless" at what had transpired.

When later asked to describe his level of frustration with the result, he replied: "Pretty high – and that’s saying quite a lot given the last few races I’ve had.

"But, yeah, clearly, we didn’t get it right, which is a shame because the whole weekend went very, very well. We had a lot of pace. I felt like I drove well. So, yeah, it’s pretty painful."

Piastri conceded that having victory snatched away from him "hurts more" than the double disqualification McLaren suffered in Las Vegas.

I think on a personal level, I feel like I’ve lost a win today," he explained. "In Vegas, I lost a P4. Obviously, for the team, it was a pretty painful weekend. But, yeah, I think for me personally, this probably hurts more."