Oscar Piastri reveals 'unfair' strategy stance after McLaren talks

Oscar Piastri maintains it would be "unfair to neutralise" strategy divergence at McLaren after Lando Norris' alternate approach secured him victory at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The F1 drivers' championship leader, who holds a nine-point advantage over his McLaren team-mate, does not want to see the papaya squad prevent the driver behind from rolling the dice, something he views to be natural, as they have "a lot less to lose" in that situation. Piastri disclosed that there have been conversations internally at McLaren over the potential issue, after it resulted in a 14-point swing in the standings at the Hungaroring alone. "Yeah, we've spoken about it since then," the 24-year-old explained to the media, including RacingNews365 . "I think ultimately there are race situations where being the second car from the team on track, or just - you don't even have to be a second car from your team, it's just - being the last car in the train or the last car in the group, you've got a lot less to lose. "So that kind of aspect is always going to be there. And I think it would be unfair to neutralise that just because of wanting to be on the same strategy."

A 'difficult thing to try and cover...'

Ahead of the Dutch Grand Prix, Piastri shared that the reigning constructors' champion's outlook on managing its two drivers through a title fight has not changed, with offset strategies still open to both. "There were discussions about whether there was anything we could have done differently for myself, which were very productive discussions," the eight-time grand prix winner said. "So, I think we're still going to be free to pick alternating strategies, if that's what we want. "But yes, there were definitely some discussions about how we can tackle that, because it's obviously a difficult thing to try and cover, different strategies, especially when you're in the position we are in the championship."