Oscar Piastri: One pit stop was the right decision

Oscar Piastri finished second in Monza and regrets missing out on victory…

Q: Oscar, have you considered a one-stop strategy like the winning Charles Leclerc?
Oscar Piastri: Not as serious as usual. It was risky. The granulation of tyres was the main topic of the weekend. When the tyres were granulated during free practice, that was it: we had to go to the pits

At that point, nobody expected Charles’ car to go flat. So yes, looking back, we can say that one pit stop was the right decision, although we thought it was incredibly risky before the start.

When you lead a race, the riders behind you can react to your actions. With two pit stops Charles would have finished third, and if he had made one and then lost speed, he would still have been third. But he made it with one pit stop and won the race.

Q: Is there anything you wish you had done differently now? In the first segment you showed incredible speed. Did that force you to make two pit stops?
Oscar Piastri: I don’t think it had much impact. We have to see how Charles granulated when I went for the second pit stop. Before that everything was under control. We realised quite early that we would have two pit stops.

Maybe, looking back, we could have changed the strategy a little bit and I could have ridden a little differently, but after the finish it’s easy to talk about it.

Q: One of the defining moments came on the first lap when you passed Lando at the second chicane. Tell us about it…
Oscar Piastri: I braked later and ran around the outside radius. Nothing special. The cars were not damaged. I knew that once I hit the brakes and took the lead, I had the right to stay outside. Good first lap!

Q: How do you assess the situation in the Constructors’ Championship? The team is only eight points behind Red Bull. How confident are you and the team?
Oscar Piastri: Very confident. We have played over a hundred points and are happy with how things are going.

Q: Towards the end of the race you were catching Charles. Was there a point where you thought you could catch him?
Oscar Piastri: I immediately asked what pace I needed to overtake Charles. I was optimistic at the time, but I lost a lot of time behind Carlos and Stroll drove as if it was his first kart race. It was worth another second. I had to run this segment perfectly to win this race, but several small things ruined our chances. Of course I did my best. I couldn’t go any faster, but that left me a little short.