F1: McLaren's Oscar Piastri Says Lance Stroll was ‘Driving Like it was his First Go-kart Race’

Oscar Piastri didn't hold back while criticising Lance Stroll's driving at the Italian Grand Prix. Piastri, who finished second behind Charles Leclerc, called Stroll's driving rookieish. He was frustrated for losing time while overtaking slower cars, including Stroll. Piastri was on a strong two-stop strategy, closing in on Leclerc, but the slower drivers hindered his progress. He believes these delays cost him the win, as he couldn't maintain momentum and effectively challenge Leclerc. Piastri also pointed out that the time he spent overtaking Stroll while chasing Leclerc in the final stages, ultimately prevented him from closing the gap. Despite his efforts, Leclerc won by 2.6 seconds.

Oscar Piastri said, ' I asked basically straight away what pace I needed to do to go and get Charles. And the pace I needed was basically what I did for the first few laps. And at that point, I was pretty optimistic. You know, I lost a decent amount of time behind Carlos. You had Stroll driving like it was his first go-kart race, and I don't know what went through his brain when he saw his blue flag. 

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‘That cost another second. And, yeah, you know, I needed that stint to be perfect to win that race. And, you know, those little things are ultimately what cost us a bit of a chance. It would have been a long shot anyway, but, yeah. It was certainly not far off from being able to achieve it. But yeah, I was pushing flat out to try and do it. I couldn't have gone any faster than that. So yep, just came up a bit short.'

Oscar Piastri showed great speed throughout the Italian Grand Prix, but bad luck and strategy errors cost him a win. Starting from the front row, Piastri lost his early lead to a Ferrari overcut. He then had to chase down Charles Leclerc. A slow pit stop and a near-collision with Lance Stroll, who ignored blue flags, slowed him down.

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The incident with Stroll allowed Carlos Sainz to close the gap. Despite Sainz's older tyres, Piastri overtook him with eight laps left. Piastri's second-place finish was impressive, but it felt bittersweet given his earlier pace. The young Australian will aim to turn his strong performances into victories soon.