Piastri laments missed victory opportunity: 'I could go and get Max'

Oscar Piastri believed he could have challenged for the race win at the Japanese Grand Prix if he was allowed to swap places with teammate Lando Norris.

The 53-lap event around the Suzuka International Racing Course was an admittedly dull affair, with very few overtakes and uniform tyre strategies.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen impressed with pole position on Saturday, and converted this into victory over the McLaren pair of Lando Norris and Piastri, who finished in second and third respectively.

There was a discussion at McLaren to swap Piastri and Norris to allow the former to attack Verstappen for the race lead, but this decision never materialised. Piastri and Team Principal Andrea Stella explained why this was the case.

At Least Ask The Question

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 after the Grand Prix, Piastri admitted that his call to swap with Norris was simply a shot in the dark. He said: "I wasn't really expecting it, no. I just said what I felt.

"I thought that if I had the opportunity to get in front of Lando, then maybe I could go and get Max. Because my pace felt very strong and I was able to get into DRS relatively comfortably. I just couldn't get any closer than that," added the Australian.

Piastri continued by stating that after Qualifying, second and third was the best that he and McLaren could hope for: "I thought I would at least ask the question, but that's completely fine with me.

"We all want to go racing and finishing where we finished because we've earned it. I think we can both say that after qualifying, that's the result we deserve.

"I'm sure we'll have a look and see if there's something we could have done differently. Honestly, I think we executed a good race today," concluded Piastri.

We Need To Be A Little Careful In Judging Superficially

McLaren boss Stella explained in detail why he and the Woking-based outfit chose to keep Norris and Piastri in the same positions.

He said: "I think, like I said before, it takes about 8 tenths of a second to even be in condition to attack the car ahead, because you are in the slipstream and as soon as you get within one second, you get a lot of dirty air and your performance drops.

• Read Also: Supreme Verstappen fends off McLaren duo to win Japanese GP

"So I think it's it's fair that Oscar makes the comment and gives the input to the people but I think today was simply not possible to overtake," Stella stated.

Stella continued by clarifying why Piastri was able to close in within DRS range of Norris, but Norris couldn't do the same to Verstappen: "Yes, he got close to Lando because Lando was managing his tyres.

"He was trying to give it a go towards Max, switching between having a go and bouncing back [to prevent overheating]. So I think we need to be a little careful in judging superficially."

McLaren currently lead the Constructors' Championship on 111 points. Mercedes are their next closest competitors on 75 points.

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