McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri has hit out at the “dangerous” wet tyre performance in Formula 1 after a rain-drenched Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos. The treacherous conditions forced drivers to grapple with low visibility, poor traction, and a tyre compound unable to meet the demands of the race.
As rain intensified and Haas driver Nico Hulkenberg’s car became stranded on a kerb at Turn 1, both a Virtual Safety Car and then a full Safety Car were deployed. Piastri wasted no time on team radio, urgently calling for a red flag and expressing frustration over F1’s Wet tyre limitations.
“We need a red flag; it’s ridiculous out here now,” Piastri radioed to McLaren. “There’s standing water everywhere, the Wets won’t survive this. Either we need to put Wets on or stop the race.”
Piastri’s concerns were soon validated when Franco Colapinto crashed heavily on the start/finish straight, prompting race control to red-flag the event. Even after the restart—on Intermediates—the track remained treacherous, and Piastri struggled with McLaren’s lackluster pace, compounded by the loss of the speed advantage they’d enjoyed in Saturday’s dry Sprint.
Reflecting on a difficult day that saw him finish eighth, Piastri told reporters, “It was tough from start to end.” He noted a marked shift in the race’s second half, saying, “The first half we were quick; I was stuck behind Liam [Lawson], and Lando [Norris] was held up by George [Russell]. But after the red flag, we lost pace. Those final 30 laps were brutal.”
To make matters worse, Piastri incurred a 10-second time penalty for spinning Lawson at Turn 1, an incident he acknowledged was “deserved.” Piastri explained, “I’d been behind him for ages and didn’t get far enough alongside. In those conditions, it’s tough—he didn’t see me, and I made the error.”
Piastri’s disappointment also extended to the timing of the red flag. “The red flag came too late; it should have happened before Colapinto’s crash,” he noted, adding that drivers avoided using the full Wet tyre due to its lackluster performance. “Honestly, the most challenging part was staying on track behind the Safety Car. We’ve got to face the issue with the Wet tyre because everyone’s calling for a red flag but doesn’t want to switch to Wets because they’re so ineffective.”
This latest outcry joins a growing chorus from drivers who have long criticized the Wet tyre’s poor performance, urging F1 and Pirelli to address its shortcomings. Piastri concluded, “It’s a dangerous situation when cars can’t stay on track even under the Safety Car. It’s not new, but hopefully, we can finally change it.”
