McLaren Did Not Pit Piastri On Safety Car Because He 'Still Needs To Figure Out' Tire Degradation
F1
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella talked about one aspect influencing race strategies that Oscar Piastri still needs to figure out.
McLaren is obviously satisfied with the performances of their Australian driver, Oscar Piastri, as the team extended the contract with Piastri until the end of season 2026.
The 22-year-old has been matching the pace of a lot more experienced Lando Norris during multiple races this season, like the Japanese Grand Prix or Qatar Grand Prix, where he won the sprint race.
However, being a rookie in Formula One, the McLaren driver still has to learn and gain some more experience to become 'mighty one day, as Martin Brundle said.
His team principal, Andrea Stella, revealed the team had a chance to put Piastri on a one-stop strategy during the most recent Las Vegas Grand Prix but decided against it. He told the media:
"We thought it was too early for the Medium, and he was in a strong position, retaining the track position. I don't think it would have been a good idea because, at the end of the race, we would have been in big trouble with the Medium tires."
The team principal explained the reason they did not go for a one-stop strategy from hard to medium tires was that Piastri had not shown good enough tire management skills yet.
"These kinds of characteristics he has already shown. He still needs to figure out how to limit this degradation like the sprint race in Austin and Brazil."
McLaren has the data to compare the two drivers, and Norris apparently does a better job managing his tires and retaining the pace in his car, which is something Piastri still has time to learn.
"Also, in Hungary, there were places in which Lando [Norris] had better capability of reducing degradation of the tires."
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