As for Piastri’s strategy, which appeared to be a two-stop until the race was upended by a VSC and then Safety Car, Stella explained that the Australian’s earlier than optimal pit stop was as a result of the tyres initially not lasting as long as expected.
“At the time Oscar’s tyres were going off by a good chunk and Oscar was passing some feedback that that was the case,” Stella clarified. “It was unclear entering this event whether it would have been a one or a two. If it was a two, that was the time to go.
“And if the hard tyres had behaved just a little bit better, then the two would have been a very strong strategy, despite having to overtake some other cars. But once he went on hard tyres, actually it wasn’t much faster than Lando and Max that stayed out on the used medium.
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“So, I think the hard tyres were a little less competitive than we thought, but we needed to deviate and create the condition to beat Max today. I think this is something that you can only judge in hindsight, but if you deviate, that was the time to go for a two-stop.
“So, no regrets and ultimately for the team it’s the same outcome and for Oscar it could have been the way to win and sometimes, when you take some risks to win, there may be a little bit of a downside.”
Piastri remains in the lead of the Drivers’ Championship, although his team mate has reduced that advantage from 16 to 13 points, with Verstappen a further nine adrift.
