Can McLaren deliver Piastri a win? 'Got the hardest part nailed'
F1 News
Oscar Piastri is yet to secure his first Grand Prix win in Formula 1. This season, he has featured twice on the podium in both Monaco and Austria, after finishing second. At Silverstone, McLaren made an error, which cost Piastri the chance of winning, or featuring on the podium once again. Nevertheless, the Australian does not seem too concerned by this.
Speaking to GPblog, and others in the paddock after the British Grand Prix, Piastri reflected on the close encounters he has had with winning. "It's never been the same thing that's prevented us from winning," he said. "Obviously today we made a wrong call. Imola, we had an issue in qualifying with traffic. Austria, well, the less said about qualifying in Austria, the better. So, I guess it's a good thing that it's not been a repeated error or mistake, I feel like there's been a good handful now."
Could Piastri win a race this season?
McLaren have been strong this season. They have featured on the podium consistently since the Chinese Grand Prix, and Lando Norris also secured his maiden win in Miami. With this performance, they now sit third in the Constructors, just seven points behind Ferrari. However, Mercedes, who sit in fourth, are closing the gap between their customer, as just 74 points split the two. Nevertheless, this season McLaren have made some costly mistakes. In Canada, if Norris had not stayed out for an extra lap, he could have potentially won instead of Max Verstappen.
Last weekend, at the British Grand Prix, McLaren had led the race 1-2 until it lost this position as a result of their pit stops. The first error they made was not double-stacking Norris and Piastri at the first stops. They then used soft tyres on Norris' car, instead of mediums and stopped one lap too late which allowed Lewis Hamilton to get back ahead. Team boss Andrea Stella is not fazed by these mistakes, suggesting that the near misses are good news, given the team did not have these last season. Piastri also agrees, as he remains optimistic for the second half of the season: "I think on both sides of the garage, where we felt like we could have won the race. So I think we've got the hardest part nailed. I think we've got an incredibly quick car. We just need to capitalise on using it," he concluded.