Martin Brundle was spot-on with his verdict on Oscar Piastri after the Qatar Grand Prix

McLaren driver Oscar Piastri came over the team radio and admitted he was ‘speechless’ at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix.

From a personal point of view, Oscar Piastri will believe that he couldn’t have done any more to end his winless streak that’s run since the Dutch Grand Prix.

McLaren would have been delighted to have locked out the front row after Piastri claimed pole position ahead of Lando Norris.

Who has been your Qatar Grand Prix Driver of the Day?

It’s no longer a surprise to see Max Verstappen get the better of Norris going into the first corner of a race, but Piastri escaped the Dutchman’s grasp and raced off into the lead.

What followed was a strategy disaster for McLaren that immediately put the Australian on the back foot.

Piastri was disconsolate in the car immediately after the race, and Martin Brundle has now reacted to interviewing the 24-year-old before he stepped onto the podium in Qatar.

Oscar Piastri ‘broken’ immediately after the Qatar Grand Prix, says Martin Brundle

Brundle was speaking on Sky Sports F1 (30/11 6:01 pm) after talking to Piastri before his first visit to the podium since Monza.

He explained: “Every point is key at the moment. Yes, of course, they should have both come in, or they should have split the strategy; hindsight’s a wonderful thing.

“They made a key error on that, and it cost the team an important victory.

“I was trying to get some words out of him after the race; he was broken.

Lando Norris questions McLaren’s pit stop strategy! Have they made the right call?

“We should’ve just followed him in, no? If we knew the car ahead was staying out.

“They have lost all of their flexibility for the remainder of the race.”
Lando Norris on the team radio

“So Lando, the goal here now is really good pace to Lap 25. Basically everyone else will be stopping on Lap 32.”
McLaren race engineer Will Joseph responds to Norris’ question

“He’s dominated this weekend; he’s comfortably the fastest driver around this track in his McLaren.

“And Lando said it, ‘I lost a second, Oscar lost a first’. He knows it, Oscar had that covered tonight, and they’ve just cost him a very important victory.”

Jamie Chadwick surprised by McLaren’s lack of pace at the Qatar Grand Prix

Brundle was joined by Jamie Chadwick when analysing what went wrong for McLaren during the Qatar Grand Prix.

She said: “For me, it felt a bit like that. I think you would have at least pitted one of them.

“But I don’t think they wanted to put themselves in a position where they compromised one race and advantaged the other.

“If they compromise one, they seem to compromise both, which is what happened. I think they could have had a get-out-of-jail-free card if there had been a late safety car.

Oscar Piastri couldn’t believe his luck at the end of the Qatar Grand Prix. Do you think he can still win the championship?

“Yeah, clearly we didn’t get it right tonight. I drove the best race that I could, the fastest that I could. There was nothing left out there. I’ve tried my best but it wasn’t to be tonight, unfortunately.

“I think in hindsight, it is pretty obvious what we would have done. I am sure we will discuss it as a team.

“Yep, I mean it is not all bad obviously. It has been a really good weekend, the pace has been very strong but it is a little bit tough to swallow at the moment.”
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s reaction to the Qatar Grand Prix

“I also think maybe a lot of us, and me included, thought their pace advantage would be such that they would be able to get out of it, regardless of losing that time with the safety car.

“It didn’t work out, Max was too fast for them, and to add to that, Lando also made a few mistakes, didn’t have the pace to live with Oscar either and then dropped even further back.”

Piastri now needs to win in Abu Dhabi and hope that Norris finishes seventh or below to become world champion.

He’s close enough to Verstappen to guarantee second in the championship if he wins the season finale, but he needs the likes of Mercedes to do him a favour and get ahead of Norris.

That is realistic, but hoping for Yuki Tsunoda or either Ferrari to help him out feels much more fanciful.

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