Oscar Piastri walked into the Qatar Grand Prix weekend looking like a driver who had everything under control, as he had a strong sense of confidence and was making no mistakes, and after winning the Sprint and then taking pole again for the main race, most F1 fans felt that the Australian had already won the trophy before the lights even went out.
However, the night took a completely unexpected direction, leaving fans all over the world pointing fingers directly at McLaren. Piastri’s loss did not come from a lack of pace, bad tyre wear, or clumsy racing, but from a strategic call that left most fans confused.
The Safety Car Period That Changed the Entire Race for Oscar Piastri
The first seven laps were smooth for Piastri as he had pulled away nicely and kept a decent margin over championship rivals Max Verstappen and Lando Norris, who were right in the mix. A few moments later on the same lap, Nico Hulkenberg collided with Pierre Gasly and parked his destroyed Sauber on the track, triggering a Safety Car.
Because Qatar had a strict 25-lap limit per tyre rule enforced by the FIA, nearly every team used the Safety Car period to get one of their required pit stops done without losing much time. Red Bull, Ferrari, Mercedes, and almost every other team went in for a pit stop except McLaren, which left both Piastri and Norris out.
The papaya drivers stayed in the lead, but it set them up to complete all of their pit stops under full racing conditions later in the race. Verstappen, with fresh new tyres and a sound strategy, simply kept pushing out spectacular laps while McLaren remained committed to their risky plan.
By the time Piastri finally boxed, the damage was done as the Australian had to fight against the clock for the rest of the race rather than fight the Dutchman wheel-to-wheel, which finally led to Verstappen crossing the finish line nearly eight seconds ahead of the Australian.
Piastri went quiet on the radio after the race and said that he was “speechless” and didn’t “have any words.”
Even in the media pen, the disappointment was written all over his face, as he had admitted earlier that he was having his best weekend of the season
Why Are F1 Fans Furious at McLaren?
Piastri had won F3 and F2 in back-to-back seasons before jumping into F1 with McLaren, and many see him as a future world champion. Fans watching the Qatar Grand Prix felt the win was finally his after a streak of bad races, but the blunder by McLaren robbed him of it.
One fan wrote, “Another Piastri win thrown away by terrible strategy. Oscar deserves better.”
While another wrote, “If Piastri wins next week with Max in 2nd and Lando in 3rd, he’ll miss out on the championship by 6 points.” The same fan then shared another post, “If I’m Mark Webber, I’m calling Ferrari and Aston Martin right now.”
A fan’s comment summed up the entire mood regarding the situation: “Oscar just crash your sh** into Norris next weekend and turn your phone off and go on break.”
Going into Abu Dhabi, Piastri sits 16 points behind Norris in the championship, while Verstappen has passed him, and the path to winning the driver’s title has become extremely narrow.
Piastri remained composed afterward, saying that he would stick to what he could control and drive hard in the final race, hoping to have a shot at winning it.