Piastri devastated after missing out on victory in Monza: "It hurts"
F1 News
On Lap 1, Oscar Piastri could take the lead, and was in control of the Italian GP. However, after Ferrari decided to switch to a one-stop with Charles Leclerc, the Australian did not have enough time to catch up to the Monegasque driver. The Australian rated his GP in Monza.
"It hurts. I’m not going to lie, it hurts a lot. I did a lot of things right today. There was a lot of question marks on the strategy going into the race," Piastri began immediately after he jumped out of his car in Monza.
He added: "From the position we were in with the tyres looking like they did, doing a one stop seemed like a very risky call, and in the end it was right." However, the Australian did find a saving grace in his result. "Very, very happy with the pace, with the race that I managed to achieve. Just when you finish second it hurts."
Mistake to do a two-stop?
According to Piastri, the one-stop was the right strategy in the end, however, that decision now looks better thanks the outcome. "In hindsight, yes. But everyone’s a legend on Monday after the race or at the chequered flag, and today unfortunately we got it a bit wrong, and myself being a big part of that. We had everything to lose from being in the lead of the race. Charles could try something a bit different. He was going to finish third either way and picked the right gamble today. "
The disappointed McLaren driver concluded: "The mediums were getting destroyed and even the hards on the Red Bull at the start looked pretty dead. And my front left was pretty heavily grained. We just didn’t expect it to clear back up again, which it did. Painful."