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Piastri on no double stack McLaren British GP Silverstone

This is how Piastri reacted to not double stacking at Silverstone

8 July at 14:12
2
  • Kada Sarkozi
  • Editor

In changeable conditions, getting the strategy right can make the difference. The same happened at the British Grand Prix: It was a positive for Max Verstappen, and a big negative for Oscar Piastri, who missed as a result had to settle for P4 at Silverstone. Here is how the Australian reacted to one of the most talked about decisions of the weekend - McLaren deciding not to double stack.

Max Verstappen was able to profit from making the correct calls at Silverstone, and got up to P2 in a Red Bull car that quite a handful. On the other hand, Piastri had the suitable machine for when the first rain drops arrived at the track, and was pushing to overtake Lando Norris for the lead. However, McLaren decided not to double stack.

"I would say [it was a] joint [decision]. I think that decision in that race is probably the hardest call you're ever going to have in motor racing. You've got two cars, one-two, separated by half a second with rain coming down. I don't think it gets any harder than that. So I think clearly some things we need to review," Piastri told GPblog among others following the British GP.

"Obviously when the two cars are so close like that you lose a lot of time for doing a double stack. The conditions were getting trickier but it was very hard to judge, it was only really half of the track that was really difficult until the lap that I stayed out. Then the whole track became difficult. I think in hindsight double stacking would have given us a very good chance of winning."

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella also answered to GPblog's question about their strategy at Silverstone.

When did Piastri realise the mistake?

Just as the Australian was about to enter the pit lane, he could already see Norris in his mirrors on intermediates. "As soon as I went past pit entry the last couple of corners were very, very tough and I could see on my dash that Lando was five seconds behind me when I pitted. So I knew I was in a lot of trouble then. I knew it was the wrong call basically instantly," he summarised. Piastri also shared information about his instant reaction: "Probably a good thing I didn't open the radio."