OSCAR PIASTRI has publicly supported McLaren’s strategic decisions despite their impact on his Hungarian Grand Prix result and championship position.
The Australian driver qualified ahead of teammate Lando Norris at the Hungaroring and demonstrated stronger race pace throughout the event.
Norris lost positions early to Mercedes driver George Russell and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso before switching to a one-stop strategy that ultimately secured his victory.
Piastri’s two-stop strategy proved less effective as Norris claimed his third win in four races, narrowing the championship gap to just nine points.
McLaren defended their strategic approach, emphasising both drivers’ freedom to pursue different race strategies based on track position.
“Yeah, we’ve spoken about it since then,“ Piastri confirmed during Thursday’s Dutch Grand Prix media sessions.
“I think ultimately there are race situations where being the second car from the team on track or just… being the last car in the train or the last car in the group, you’ve got a lot less to lose.”
The championship leader acknowledged that neutralising strategies would be unfair despite the potential benefits of coordination.
Piastri described post-race discussions as “very productive” while maintaining both drivers will retain strategic flexibility moving forward.
“So, I think we’re still going to be free to pick alternating strategies if that’s what we want,“ he added.
McLaren comfortably leads the constructors’ championship by 299 points over Ferrari while their drivers battle continues through the remaining ten races. – Reuters