Former McLaren engineer says Oscar Piastri strategy mistake exposed their ‘fundamental’ problem

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Oscar Piastri had a chance to win the Japanese Grand Prix, but an errant pitstop led to Kimi Antonelli being ‘gifted’ the win.

Antonelli admitted Piastri challenged him greatly at Suzuka, and it was a stroke of luck that allowed him to win his second race this season.

McLaren’s win showed their improved understanding of the Mercedes power unit that they had struggled with, and allowed them to compete with them at a high level in Japan.

No Mercedes one-two in Japan!

Oscar Piastri takes second, with Charles Leclerc third

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Piastri brilliantly held off George Russell during the race, anticipating his moves ahead of time and not letting him take the lead for longer than a lap.

But McLaren’s ill-timed pit stop cost Piastri a possible race win. But the issues run deeper than that, as former McLaren engineer Mark Slade believes it revealed a weakness within the team.

READ MORE: David Coulthard raises Oscar Piastri ‘series of mistakes’ concern for Kimi Antonelli in title fight

Mark Slade suggests Oscar Piastri pitstop ‘gifted’ Kimi Antonelli Japanese GP win

Speaking with Peter Windsor, former McLaren engineer Mark Slade addressed Oscar Piastri’s pitstop strategy at the Japanese Grand Prix.

He claimed that McLaren made a mistake by putting Piastri on the hard tyres so early, when there were no issues present. And in doing so, they gave Kimi Antonelli a golden ticket to another race win.

“My impression was that McLaren gifted the win to Kimi Antonelli and Mercedes by stopping Oscar unnecessarily early. And then obviously, making him vulnerable to the safety car, that did happen.

“At the time, he was pretty much holding George Russell, if anything, pulling away very, very fractionally. He was not under any threat. By stopping Oscar, they immediately made themselves vulnerable to what happened, and it just didn’t seem necessary…”

“It’s difficult to say (whether McLaren were rusty). Possibly, but there’s just no excuse for it in my book. There was literally no reason to stop him at that moment.

“If it looked like George was starting to catch him back up again or if Oscar was saying, ‘Oh, my tyres are getting in a bad way,’ which obviously they weren’t because he was holding the gap, then you might have reason to think, ‘Oh we better stop.’

“But in that situation where the gap was being maintained or even slightly extended, why would you stop? There’s literally no reason to stop. He’s not under any pressure from anybody at the point.

“So to me, it was just a blunder. Maybe Mercedes would’ve still won the race. Maybe Oscar wouldn’t have been quick enough on his hard tyres to hold them off.

“But at least if he had stayed out, he’d have been in a position to make life more difficult for them, which is always the game you should be playing. It’s always harder to win from behind than in front.”

READ MORE: What McLaren ‘team leaders’ are saying about Mercedes engine after Oscar Piastri’s Japan podium

McLaren score their first podium of 2026 at the Japanese Grand Prix!

How many will they grab in total this season?

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Mark Slade claims McLaren’s Oscar Piastri pit strategy showed a ‘weakness’ they must address

Slade added that Piastri’s poorly-thought-out pitstop showed that McLaren’s ‘fundamental’ problem within the organisation about their strategy was exposed, and they must make changes going forward.

“It’s just a failure of thought process. They probably do have someone on the pit wall who is calling the shots. It’s quite likely most teams do. But that is a very stressful position to be in.

“Fundamentally, I think that there are problems with having it organised the way it is. To me, I’m afraid it shows a weakness in their overall armour. We’ve seen it before, last year at the end of the season.

“I’m afraid it’s played out again. It’s just a simple mistake. It’s just thinking about things incorrectly, and it just plays out the way it does.”

Piastri did well to mask McLaren’s flaws with his performance at Suzuka. And even with an improved outing, McLaren have to make some changes to ensure an issue like this doesn’t cost them another race win down the line.