Did Piastri miss out on victory at Spa because of this mistake?
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Oscar Piastri eventually finished in second position at the Belgian Grand Prix, after winning his first race in Formula One a week earlier at the Hungaroring. During the final laps, the Australian was chasing down the two Mercedes drivers, but he did not have enough time to use his tyre advantage. However, beforehand, he lost important time in the pit lane during his second stop. The Australian reacts to whether that cost him his second victory in the competition.
Entering the pit lane for his second stop of the Belgian Grand Prix, Oscar Piastri could not stop in time, causing a slow stop for the Australian. Approximately he lost two seconds because of this error. "I just went in a bit hot really [during my second stop]. I felt like on Friday there was a lot of grip in the pit lane and I was kind of always undershooting the box. Even my first pit stop I probably undershot it a little bit. I had to brake a little bit, with Lewis coming out, so maybe I was coming in a bit slow," Piastri explained.
He continued with acknowledging his mistake. "But the second one clearly was a little bit overdone. It wasn't my finest moment," said the one-time Grand Prix winner.
Did Piastri lose his second win because of the mistake?
Piastri crossed the finish line in third position, but after George Russell's disqualification because the Briton's car was under the minimum weight limit, he would have only needed to overtake Lewis Hamilton to claim the 25 points. According to Piastri, the slower pit stop made no difference.
"I don't think it really cost much in the scheme of things. I think it meant I probably would have just been stuck behind Lewis [Hamilton] and George [Russell] for another lap or two at the end. But yes, obviously, something I want to tidy up for all the other races," he concluded.
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