McLaren’s Oscar Piastri finished fifth in the final of the 2023 F1 Round 12 Hungarian Grand Prix and won his fourth career prize, but reflected on tire degradation management. On the other hand, the team pointed out that the damage to the floor was a hindrance. A fifth place at the Hungaroring follows a fourth place at the previous British Grand Prix and marks the first time Piastri has achieved two top ten finishes in a row.
Piastri, who started from 4th in the Hungarian Grand Prix, passed Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton at the opening corner and ran second behind Max Verstappen in the early stages. Piastri trailed his team-mate after the pit stop, with McLaren putting Norris in the box first, who allowed an undercut for a ferocious out lap. From there, Piastri started to drop times over his more experienced teammate, which the 22-year-old attributed to excessive tire degradation. “The tire deg seemed fatal for me,” declared Piastri. “I’m still not 100 percent sure why, but it’s definitely something to look into. “I think it’s the first time I’ve had a race with a lot of pit stops and a lot of degu, so there’s a lot to learn. “But I think that was the only key to my race. He pointed out that there was a reason. He suggested floor damage was the root cause, rather than burning out the tyres. “Oscar is a man who makes no excuses,” Stella said. “I think this damage happened when it bulged on the curb, but it wasn’t necessarily just when you went off the track while fighting with (Sergio) Perez. “So maybe this damage happened to the car more than once.” “There are a lot of pressure sensors and you can see the traces of changes in these pressure sensors, so you know something has happened.” “We have a lot to improve on, but it’s great for the team to finish in the top five after such a struggle,” said Piastri. “It’s very exciting right now to race with them and to be able to compete two weekends in a row on our own,” said Piastri of the wheel-to-wheel with Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. “A track like this, conditions like this were a nightmare at the start of the season and a few races ago. It’s a credit to the team that we were able to turn around,” he said.
2023-07-24 05:03:00
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