Piastri suggests early pit stop was strategic misstep by McLaren

Oscar Piastri’s third-place finish at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix was a solid result on paper, but for the McLaren driver, it carried the weight of a missed opportunity.

Starting from pole position, Piastri was poised to strengthen his championship lead, with teammate and closest rival Lando Norris lined up three places behind in fourth.

However, a bold early overtake by Max Verstappen and an early pitstop that dropped Piastri down to third in the running order prompted the Aussie to suggest that the team’s decisions may have cost him a chance to challenge for the victory.

Reflecting on the race, Piastri was forthright, pinpointing the crucial moments that shaped the outcome of his afternoon.

Caught Off Guard by Max

The defining moment of the race came at Turn 1, where Piastri – focused on defending from George Russell’s Mercedes on the inside – left the door open for Verstappen to complete a bold move around the outside and seize the lead.

“Yeah, I mean, I thought I had it pretty under control, and it was a good move from Max,” Piastri admitted. “So, yeah, you know, I’ll learn for next time, clearly.”

When asked whether he would have done anything differently in hindsight, Piastri was candid: “I definitely would have done something different. I would have braked 10 metres later, probably. That’s all. Live and learn.”

Despite losing the lead, Piastri didn’t feel it was a turning point at the time.

“I think at that point I wasn’t overly concerned to not be in the lead. But then our pace just wasn’t as strong as I expected. So that compounded that first corner.”

With his tyres beginning to degrade and his pace not matching expectations, the McLaren team decided to bring Piastri in early – on Lap 13 – for his first pit stop. But that decision would later be called into question.

Strategy Misfires and a Costly VSC

The early stop dropped Piastri behind a group of slower cars and all but committed him to a two-stop race.

When the Virtual Safety Car was deployed on Lap 30, both Verstappen and Norris pitted at reduced time loss, allowing them to leapfrog Piastri and protect track position heading into the final stages.

Piastri acknowledged that the call to pit early wasn’t clear-cut: “I think a lot of people around were struggling. I was starting to struggle a bit,” he said.

Still, he questioned whether McLaren had jumped the gun: “We kind of discussed it a bit, but it’s something we still need to go through more clearly, because I think maybe we reacted a bit too quickly. But we’ll have a look.”

From there, Piastri’s afternoon was about damage limitation. He was promoted to second when Norris made a late stop under a Safety Car, but with worn hard tyres, the Australian could not keep his teammate behind on fresher rubber and had to settle for the final podium spot.

“[With] the timing of the VSC and the Safety Car, the race was very tough from very early on,” Piastri said. “Honestly, given people had fresher tyres at the end, hanging on to a podium is not a bad result.”

• Read also: Norris fights back at Imola but admits needing 'better Saturdays'

Despite his frustration, Piastri remained pragmatic, recognizing that not every race will go to plan in a title fight.

“You’re going to have tough days in the championship, and this is clearly one of them. So as long as we learn the lessons, then that’s all I can ask.”

The result leaves Piastri still leading the world championship, though the Imola weekend has underlined how quickly fortunes can shift when strategy calls don’t fall in line with race dynamics.

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