– McLaren team principal Andrea Stella understands Oscar Piastri’s outburst over the radio during the Hungarian Grand Prix but emphasizes that the pit stop strategy was the right decision. The Australian had repeatedly expressed frustration over situations on the radio and also called Carlos Sainz an “idiot” because he collided with him as a lapped car.
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Piastri had taken the lead from teammate Lando Norris at the start and then kept him behind on the overtaking-unfriendly track. However, Norris did not want to accept this and said he was significantly faster in clear air. He wanted to come to the pits first during the second stint to attempt an undercut, which the team denied.
The usual etiquette states that the leading car has priority during a pit stop – and in this case, Piastri had earned this right by overtaking Norris fairly and cleanly in the first lap.
When Hamilton, who had already been to the pits several laps earlier, was about 25 seconds behind the leader in lap 34 and closing in, McLaren thought they had to cover Ferrari as the main threat: “We had to react,” says Stella. “Oscar was leading, and we considered him the right car to respond with.”
Piastri came out with a four-second lead, which also gave Norris a gap to slot in. But due to a combination of Piastri being held up by Williams driver Carlos Sainz and Norris finding extra pace in clear air, Norris managed a rare overcut to take the lead – much to Piastri’s frustration.
“Get the hell out of my way, you idiot, oh my God,” Piastri angrily shouted at Sainz before directing some of that frustration at his own team when he saw his chance for the race win slip away. “Nice of you to factor that in, by the way, thanks,” he said sarcastically.
“Absolutely no problem”
In hindsight, Piastri admitted that McLaren had no choice but to call him in at that exact moment, and that in the heat of the moment his racing brain had overridden reason – hoping McLaren could somehow correct the injustice.
For Stella, his driver’s comments in the heat of the moment are understandable: “Right after the race, Oscar made it clear that his remark was a comment out of anger,” says the Italian.
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“There were a few unfortunate incidents. The most important thing, of course, is the fact that Oscar had a collision with a lapped car. And at the same time, Lando’s pace when he had clear air was just amazing. I think he found about half a second per lap. And that pace meant that Lando could be ahead of Oscar.”
“I think Oscar understood that immediately. It is absolutely understandable: when you lead the race for almost half of it and then see the lead lost because of an incident with a lapped car, you might have a brief moment and make a comment out of frustration. But there is absolutely no problem with that,” emphasizes Stella.
Stella: Race strategy was sensible as it was
Likewise, McLaren could not do much for the actually faster Norris up to that point. Stella explains that the command center at least “checked all options” in case the team came under even greater pressure from behind – such as swapping positions so Norris could try to create a gap to swap positions back at the end of the race, provided McLaren still controlled a one-two finish.
But Stella also felt that Piastri “deserved a chance to win the race” by overtaking Norris at the start and then keeping him at a distance.
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“You constantly weigh all options,” Stella added. “You can look at how to get the most points for the team, but you also have to be consistent in the way we conduct racing.”
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“And I think up to the point when Oscar came to the pits, he had earned the lead fairly through the maneuver in turns one and two. So he deserved a chance to win the race. On other tracks, Lando probably could have overtaken Oscar, but here it is difficult.”
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