Piastri: We have less experience in fighting for victories

McLaren has delighted fans with consistently good form of late, although it has only won one race so far in 2024 – Lando Norris stood out in Miami in early May.

But at Silverstone, for example, it looked like both drivers could claim victory, but a number of tactical miscalculations by the team prevented them. In Hungary, Oscar Piastri was asked if he really could have won the British Grand Prix if he had not stayed on slicks for an extra lap on the wet track?

Oscar Piastri: “I think it would be difficult. At that stage of the race I was in second place, and when your car is second on track it is not always the most favourable situation. But under certain scenarios we could actually win the race, I do not rule it out.

But I think many of those who participated in the events that took place at Silverstone can say that they could have performed much better. However, in such cases there are always a lot of ‘if’ questions, and we analysed everything, tried to understand what was done wrong, and this applies to both sides of the McLaren garage. It was a very fruitful discussion, but we were indeed among the contenders for the victory, and that is gratifying.

Although our car wasn’t the fastest on the track before the rain started, because we were in 4th and 5th place. But thanks to the weather we could have a good chance and we can only regret that in that situation some mistakes were made.

Of course we have drawn certain conclusions, but we have to understand that the team has returned to the leading group after a very long break and can only now claim high results regularly. I don’t think this is an excuse, but in a way we have less experience than some of our rivals.

However, we are slowly learning, and there have been races where we have managed to take advantage of all the opportunities, even if there may not have been many reactions to this topic. But this is also part of the game: when you are fighting in a group of leaders, the difference between victory and 2nd place in the race is determined by the missed opportunities. This is of course more important than the difference between 6th and 7th place.

Let’s put it this way: in recent months we could be included in the list of contenders for victory, but we remember that a year ago if we managed to finish in 3rd or 4th place, it was considered an incredible result. . Overall, we must realize that we have now moved up to a higher position, although the circumstances this season are generally different. Some things we could influence ourselves, others were beyond our control, but together with the team we analyze everything very effectively, and now the task is to pay more attention to those areas where improvements are needed.”