Oscar Piastri admits that last weekend’s chaotic Sao Paulo Grand Prix was “amongst the toughest races” he’s experienced in F1 due to the extreme weather conditions that prevailed in Brazil.
Piastri concluded his challenging day P8 in the running order, two spots behind his McLaren teammate Lando Norris who has started on pole.
But the event’s poor visibility and slippery track pushed the limits of safety, causing several drivers to crash which disrupted proceedings, forcing teams to devise new strategies on the fly.
In his radio exchanges with his team, Piastri was vocal about the worsening conditions, calling for a red flag.
Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas was among the first casualties, stranded on a kerb at Turn 1, triggering a Virtual Safety Car that later escalated to a full Safety Car deployment
The race at Interlagos was marred by poor visibility and slippery track surfaces as the rain intensified. Nico Hulkenberg’s Haas was among the first casualties, stranded on a kerb at Turn 1 which triggered a Virtual Safety Car that eventually transitioned to a full Safety Car deployment.
During the race’s neutralization, Piastri was vocal about the worsening conditions, calling for a red flag over his team’s radio.
“We need a red flag, it’s ridiculous out here now,” the Aussie told his race engineer. “There is standing water everywhere, the wets will not survive this. Either we need to put wets on or stop the race.”
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Meanwhile, Franco Colapinto lost control of his Williams as he crossed the DRS line on Interlagos’ main straight, prompting race control to finally deploy the red flag.
However, while Piastri had called for the stoppage, he had pitted just before, along with Norris, which cost both McLaren drivers dearly as an immediate position advantage was handed to Max Verstappen, Esteban Ocon, and Pierre Gasly who had opted not to pit under the race’s caution regime.
When the race resumed, there was nothing lost and nothing gained for Piastri who battled his way to the checkered flag to finish his day seventh in the pecking order.
©McLaren
Reflecting on events, the 23-year-old admitted that his day was “amongst the toughest” he’d endured in F1.
“It was a tough day from start to end,” he said, quoted by Motorsport Week. “The first half of the race we seemed very quick, Lando was stuck behind George [Russell], I was stuck behind Liam [Lawson].
“I got Liam out of the way not really in the way I intended, yeah, I think the second half of the race after the red flag we were just slow.
“I think both of us just struggled with pace and that was a pretty tough 30 laps.”
In his battle to overtake Lawson, Piastri collided with the RB driver at Turn 1, sending the Kiwi into a spin. The incident earned the McLaren driver a 10-second time penalty, which he accepted as fair given the conditions.
“I was stuck behind him for a long time, and didn’t really get far enough alongside,” he explained.
“I spoke to him about it; he said he didn’t see me either, which in those conditions is fair enough, but it was clearly my mistake and the penalty was deserved.”
In hindsight, Piastri questioned the red flag’s timing, feeling it should have been deployed before Colapinto’s accident to prevent such risks on track.
He also called attention to the larger problem with F1’s full wet tyre compounds which drivers consistently avoid due to its poor performance. This was the case again in the monsoon-like race, which only added to Piastri’s challenges.
“I don’t think we expected it to rain as much as it did,” he explained. “Then honestly the toughest part of the race was under the Safety Car trying to stay on track.
“I think it kind of exposed a bit of the issue we’re having with the wet tyre when everyone is begging for a red flag but is refusing to go on to the wet tyre because it’s so bad.
“So pretty dangerous situation having cars struggling to stay on track behind the Safety Car, but it’s not really anything new so hopefully we can try and at least change it now.”
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