Piastri made a mistake during his final pit stop at Spa last Sunday, according to McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella. Stella and Piastri had differing views on the significance of this error during the Formula 1 Belgian Grand Prix. Piastri had a strong race, overtaking his teammate Lando Norris and later securing third place by passing Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc. He then pursued the Mercedes duo of George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, finishing less than a second behind Hamilton at the end of the race. However, Piastri’s pit stop mishap may have cost him the win.
During his second and final pit stop on Lap 33, Piastri overshot his pit box and collided with his jackman, resulting in a delay of 4.4 seconds. This was a significant setback considering that a typical pit stop takes around two seconds. With such a narrow margin between the top three drivers, Stella believes that this mistake ultimately had a negative impact on Piastri’s race. Piastri himself acknowledged the error, apologizing for it on the radio immediately after the incident. He recognized that it could have potentially hindered his chances of attacking Hamilton and also put him behind Leclerc with fresher tires, making overtaking easier. Stella emphasized the importance of drivers not making such mistakes during crucial moments like pit stops, as they can be very costly. He pointed out a similar incident that occurred at Silverstone.
Despite Piastri’s admission of the mistake, he doesn’t view it as a defining moment in his pursuit of victory in Belgium. He believes that it didn’t have a significant impact on the overall outcome of the race. Piastri thinks that it would have only resulted in him being stuck behind Hamilton and Russell for an extra lap or two. Nevertheless, he acknowledges the need to improve and avoid such errors in future races.
Regardless of the differing opinions on the pit-stop error, one thing is clear: McLaren, a highly anticipated team at Spa, needs to fine-tune its race operations to fulfill its potential.
