Piastri blasts ‘first time go-kart racer’ Stroll for impeding in Italian GP

Oscar Piastri took aim at Aston Martin’s Lance Stroll after Sunday’s Italian Grand Prix, criticizing the Canadian for driving “like it was his first go-kart race” and impeding the McLaren’s driver pace in the final laps of the race.

Piastri was called in for a second pitstop on lap 38 of 53 and rejoined in third position, but well adrift from race leader Charles Leclerc and his Ferrari teammate Carlos Sainz.

The Aussie managed to overhaul the Spaniard on lap 44, but his frustrations grew when he got stuck behind Stroll on lap 49, losing additional time. By the end of the race, Piastri finished 2.6 seconds behind Leclerc.

Reflecting on the incident, Piastri was clear about his discontent.

“I asked basically straight away what pace I needed to do to go and get Charles,” he said. “And the pace I needed was basically what I did for the first few laps. And at that point, I was pretty optimistic.”

“You know, I lost a decent amount of time behind Carlos. You had Stroll driving like it was his first go-kart race, and I don't know what went through his brain when he saw his blue flag. That cost another second.”

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Piastri insisted that perfection was necessary in his final stint to have a shot at winning the race, and the delays he encountered were costly.

“I needed that stint to be perfect to win that race,” he added. “And, you know, those little things are ultimately what cost us a bit of a chance. It would have been a long shot anyway, but it was certainly not far off from being able to achieve it.

“I was pushing flat out to try and do it. I couldn't have gone any faster than that. So yep, just came up a bit short.”

Despite the setback, Piastri seemed to have no significant regrets regarding his race strategy.

Although McLaren’s two-stop approach did not deliver the desired outcome, Piastri explained that a one-stop strategy would have been equally challenging due to the car’s tyre degradation.

“If the information I got is right, on the radio, then it wasn't really a matter of driving slower,” he explained. “It was just kind of sticking with the graining and getting through it.

“Given in practice when that happened you basically couldn't hit the brake pedal because you turned your front left into a 50-cent coin, it seemed like a very risky thing to do so.

“Obviously, it was the right thing in hindsight, but everyone's a lot smarter when the chequered flag falls.”

Piastri’s frustrations reflect the fine margins that were in play at Monza where even the smallest delays significantly impacted the outcome of the race.

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