F1: McLaren’s Oscar Piastri says Lance Stroll ‘drives

Oscar Piastri was not shy in criticizing Lance Stroll’s driving at the Italian Grand Prix. Piastri finished second behind Charles Leclerc, who he described as a rookie’s driving style. He was frustrated by the time he lost while overtaking slower cars, including Stroll. Piastri was closing in on Leclerc with a strong two-stop strategy, but the slower drivers hampered his progress. He believes these delays cost him the win, as he was unable to maintain momentum and challenge Leclerc effectively. Piastri also pointed out that the time he took to overtake Stroll in the closing stages while chasing Leclerc ultimately prevented him from closing the gap. Despite Leclerc’s efforts, he won by 2.6 seconds.

Oscar Piastri said: “I basically asked myself what pace I needed to catch Charles. The speed I needed was basically the speed I was driving in the first few laps. At that time, I was very optimistic. You know, I was a lot behind Carlos. Stroll drove like it was his first karting race, I don’t know what was going on in his mind when he saw the blue flag.

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“That was another second lost. Yeah, you know, I needed that time to be perfect to win that race. You know, those little things end up costing us some chances. It’s a long shot anyway, but yeah. It’s definitely not that far away from achieving that goal. But yeah, I gave it everything I had to try to do it. I couldn’t have been any faster. So yeah, it was just a little bit off.”

Oscar Piastri drove well throughout the Italian Grand Prix, but bad luck and a strategic error cost him victory. Piastri started from the front row but lost his early lead to a Ferrari overtake. He then had to chase Charles Leclerc. He was slowed by a slow pit stop and a near collision with Lance Stroll, who ignored the blue flag.

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Stroll’s incident allowed Carlos Sainz to close the gap. Despite Sainz’s older tires, Piastri passed him with eight laps to go. Piastri’s second place was impressive, but bittersweet considering his previous pace. The young Australian will be looking to convert his strong performance into a win as soon as possible.