Oscar Piastri says there are things that McLaren can do a bit better after losing out to Lewis Hamilton in an undercut in F1 Bahrain GP.
It was not the start that McLaren would have hoped for in the sense how they ended 2023 F1 season. They still managed to score good points unlike how last year’s Bahrain GP panned out for them, with Lando Norris in sixth and Piastri eighth.
For long, Piastri was running seventh but lost to Mercedes’ Hamilton after pit stop. The Australian tried to hold on at the exit of the pitlane, but on cold tyres it wasn’t possible and he couldn’t come back to him later in the race as they were on similar pace.
Piastri reckons McLaren can learn some bits after losing out to Hamilton, but on the whole, he was pleased how the season started out. “I think there was a few things in the race that we needed to do a little bit better in terms of pit stops and strategy,” he said to media. “I think it was a little bit closer than it needed to be.
“And obviously, we lost out on that. So, I tried my best to stay in front, but just didn’t have any grip on those hards coming out of the pits. I knew he was there. But he pitted the lap before me and just got the undercut. And I think we had a bit of a slow stop. So you know, without one of those things, maybe we could have held on.
“But when you put both them together, unfortunately, we lost the spot. So definitely some things we need to do a little bit better. But I think in terms of underlying pace, and reliability, which was also a concern at start of last year, I think we’re in a positive place,” summed up Piastri, who noted the tricky scene of getting close to Hamilton again to pass.
“I think when I battled him out of the pits, I really put a lot of heat into my tyres,” he said. “So that took a bit of time to settle that back in, and you know, I think with these tires being so sensitive, potentially you pay the price through the whole stint, but I think even when he was behind he looked quick.
“It’s just with the dirty air with these cars, as soon as you start getting a little bit closer, it’s tricky. So I think the pace was okay at the end, but I think for the whole race, to be honest, it was pretty even. Maybe Lewis was a little bit quicker,” summed up Piastri, as Hamilton stated that he was feeling a bit racier towards the end and so he went for it.
“I had a little bit of fun,” he said. “And then I was catching at the end, I was feeling racier towards the end. But the gap was so big, I lost so much at the beginning of the race that unfortunately I was just out of it.”
Here’s pass from Lewis Hamilton against Oscar Piastri: https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/video.2024-bahrain-grand-prix-piastri-loses-out-to-hamilton-for-p7-at-turn-1.1792432568754187223.html
Here’s Lewis Hamilton how Bahrain GP panned out
Here’s how F1 Bahrain GP panned out
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