Oscar Piastri feels McLaren was left ‘looking like idiots’ after opting to start the Canadian Grand Prix on the intermediate tyres.
Light rain in the build-up to the race at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve prompted McLaren, Audi, Cadillac and Williams’ Carlos Sainz to all start on Pirelli’s green-banded tyre, whilst their rivals were either on the softs or the mediums.
As it transpired, the rain stopped as the cars were prepped on the grid and throughout the anthem, and by the time the race began, those on dry tyres had the upper hand.
Piastri’s frustration at being on the intermediate rubber was such that he pitted for medium tyres at the end of the first racing lap.
Explaining the decision-making that took place, speaking to Sky Sports F1, the Australian driver said: “It was raining, and between the anthem and getting in the car, it was pretty wet on the ground.
“There was definitely no standing water, but you could clearly tell where it was wet and where it was dry, and getting to the grid was not easy on slicks; getting to full throttle was pretty tough.
“Unfortunately for us, it stopped raining as the formation lap started, basically. Just one of those things where if it had rained a little bit more, we would have looked like heroes, but it didn’t, so we looked like idiots. So just one of those things.”
The early pit stop pitched Piastri back into the pack. As he attempted to fight his way up the order, he was involved in a collision with Williams’ Alex Albon as he overcooked a move into the hairpin.
The damage to Albon’s car forced him to retire, whilst Piastri made a second stop to take on a new front wing. That again dropped him down the order, added to which he received a 10-second time penalty for causing a collision, leaving him outside the points in 11th at the chequered flag.
Addressing what unfolded, Piastri said: “It was just so, so difficult out there.
“I felt like I was going into the corner pretty carefully, but locked the front, and that was it. It was not my finest moment.
“Apologies to Alex and Williams, because it was unnecessary damage for both of us, especially for them. So just one of those things.”
