Only sixth in the Dutch Grand Prix while Lando Norris won with the same McLaren, Oscar Piastri admits he lacked pace at Zandvoort and is still trying to understand why.
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The contrast could hardly have been more marked at McLaren. While Lando Norris won the Dutch Grand Prix by more than eleven seconds over Kimi Antonelli, Oscar Piastri had to settle for a disappointing sixth place, more than 30 seconds behind his teammate.
The race had actually started quite well for the Australian. After the red flag caused by the accident of Max Verstappen, Piastri took the restart in fifth position with hard tires. He quickly got rid of Charles Leclerc then George Russell to climb to third place.
“At the start, I was able to go around the outside and gain a place, then George’s engine decided to select reverse gear up to turn 7, so I gained another. It was a bonus, and from there, everything went downhill.”
A slow stop that costs Piastri dearly
McLaren had initially planned an ambitious strategy for its driver, with the idea of covering a very long distance with hard tires. But race conditions quickly showed that this scenario would be difficult to implement.
“The idea was to start on the hards and then go to the end, but it quickly became quite clear that the hards were ultimately not very good.”
However, Piastri does not consider the strategy as the main reason for his result. His first pit stop cost him more. A slow intervention by McLaren notably made him lose position to Russell.
“Obviously, the first slow stop was a bit painful, and the pace afterwards was also painful. There were many different strategies, but I don’t think ours was really the problem of our race.”
From there, the Australian was no longer able to regain the pace of the frontrunners.
Piastri suddenly lost his front tires
The second stint on hard tires mainly highlighted Piastri’s difficulties. After a few encouraging laps, the behavior of his MCL40 suddenly deteriorated.
“The second set was good for about five laps, then I completely lost the front tires.”
A situation all the more difficult to explain since his first stint with the same compound had gone relatively satisfactorily.
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“There isn’t really a single obvious problem. During the first stint, things seemed reasonable. There was a bit of a tough period in the middle, but at the end of the stint, the feelings were rather good.”
The rest was much less convincing. Russell pulled away while the Ferraris of Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton both managed to overtake the McLaren.
Piastri also explains having picked up many pieces of rubber off the racing line during his battles, which only worsened his difficulties.
The problem does not come from the McLaren
More worrying for Piastri, Zandvoort is not the first weekend where he struggles to fully exploit his car. The Australian had already admitted before the race to regularly having difficulties reproducing Norris’s level of performance.
This time, his teammate’s victory makes it difficult to question the potential of the MCL40.
“Unfortunately, this is not the first race where the pace is simply not there. We need to understand why.”
Piastri also openly acknowledges that Norris has shown what the car was capable of achieving in the Netherlands.
“Lando won the race with quite a significant lead, so I think the car is in a good position.”
The conclusion is therefore clear for the Australian: the performance exists, but he is currently unable to extract it.
“These two circuits suit the car well. It’s just that, for some reason, I haven’t been able to get the pace out of it.”
After two consecutive wins by Norris, in Budapest then Zandvoort, Piastri will have to quickly find answers. The next meeting in Monza will offer him a new opportunity to reduce the gap with his teammate and regain the expected level of performance at the wheel of a McLaren now capable of regularly fighting for victory.
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