Oscar Piastri was unable to face off with Lando Norris in the Hungarian Grand Prix after his car suffered some damage, according to McLaren team boss Andrea Stella.
The problems experienced by young driver Oscar Piastri at the Hungarian Grand Prix, where the Australian youngster initially demonstrated potential but ultimately finished in fifth place, have been highlighted by McLaren team principal Andrea Stella.
Piastri’s performance in the latter stages of the race suffered since he was clueless of the damage his car had sustained during the race, according to Stella,
In the early stages of the race, Piastri impressively overtook both Lewis Hamilton and his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to get into second place, showcasing his outstanding potential.
However, Piastri’s performance slowed down as the race went and ultimately finished in fifth place, while Norris finished in an incredible second place, over one minute ahead of his teammate.
Stella addressed the causes for Piastri’s deteriorating performance and stated that the car had experienced damage that compromised its performance and eventually led to more tyre wear. The rear-end downforce damage probably made it more difficult for Piastri to keep up with Norris and the other competitors.
“Oscar had damage on his car and this meant that he lost a few tenths from a performance point of view, but also, because this was rear downforce,” Stella said. “I think this caused extra degradation of the tyres.
“We think the damage happened running wide on a curb [or] when he went off track while fighting with Perez [who finished third], so there may be both times that this damage to the car happened.
Stella noted that Piastri’s tyre management may need to be improved, even though the explanation sheds some light on his challenges.
He emphasized how crucial it was to comprehend how the tyres functioned, especially in the early laps of a stint because aggressive pushing at the start may cause more degradation towards the end of the race.
Stella pointed at Lewis Hamilton’s counter tactic, in which he takes a more cautious approach by starting his stints slowly in order to save his tyres for an extra-strong finish.
The team will seek to improve Piastri’s tyre management for upcoming races given such strategies necessitate a balanced approach.
