Oscar Piastri ‘ignored’ McLaren ‘begging’ with crucial call that won Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Follow us on Google Discover

Oscar Piastri has admitted the McLaren driver ‘ignored’ his race engineer Tom Stallard ‘begging’ him throughout the Azerbaijan Grand Prix with a call that won him the race.

The 23-year-old may still only be in his second season on the grid but is already now a two-time Grand Prix winner. Piastri overtook Charles Leclerc to win the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday with a brilliant late dive into Turn 1 and produced a faultless drive to hold the Ferrari ace off.

Piastri had started second on the grid in Baku and was unable to maintain his challenge over the first stints as Leclerc opened a margin. Sergio Perez also threatened to get second place during the pit stop phase. But Lando Norris helped Piastri by delaying Perez’s outlap a little.

McLaren ‘begged’ Oscar Piastri to be ‘very careful’ with his tyres in the Azerbaijan GP

Norris hindering Perez through the castle section of the Baku City Circuit ensured Piastri was still in second place after McLaren called the Melbourne native in for his only pit stop during the Azerbaijan GP. Piastri then set after Leclerc with the MCL38 favouring Pirelli’s hard tyres.

But the Pirelli rubber and how Piastri managed his tyres was also a key concern for McLaren going into the Azerbaijan GP and during the race. The Woking squad feared the Australian’s tyres would grain and degrade too much if he attacked too early during the warm-up phase.

READ MORE: F1 2024 teammate head-to-head battles including race, Sprint and qualifying

Yet having Leclerc and a race win within his reach convinced Piastri to ignore McLaren’s plea to manage his tyres. He even admits to ignoring race engineer Stallard’s request to bring the eight-time podium finisher’s hard tyres in smoothly knowing it was vital to possibly winning.

“Before the race, my race engineer Tom Stallard begged me to be very careful with the tyres at the start of the two segments,” Piastri said, via quotes by Speedweek. “And then I ignored all his warnings and cooked the first set of tyres.

“So, Tom got on the radio and when the second set of tyres came on he said something like, ‘We’ll do better now, right?’

“But I ignored him and threw myself at Charles because I knew that if I waited any longer behind Leclerc, I would probably ruin my tyres and I couldn’t wait forever for the tyres on Charles’ car to wear out.”

Oscar Piastri’s tyre management skills were his weakest trait

While McLaren were concerned that Piastri may destroy his tyres in the Azerbaijan GP, the Australian proved he made the correct decision by attacking Ferrari’s Leclerc right after his pit stop. Had he adhered to Stallard’s pleas, then Piastri may never have then won in Baku.

READ MORE: McLaren driver Oscar Piastri’s life outside F1 from height to girlfriend

Leclerc never proved able to attempt a serious overtook on Piastri to regain the lead of the Azerbaijan GP. Instead, the 26-year-old spent the best part of 30 laps staring at his gearbox before the Monegasque’s rear tyres gave up and Leclerc was under pressure from behind.

Had it not been for Perez and Carlos Sainz crashing on the penultimate lap of the Azerbaijan GP, Leclerc may not have even finished on the podium in Baku. Spending so long in the dirty air from Piastri’s car destroyed his tyres and saw Leclerc fall back massively in the final laps.

Piastri even proved through defending from Leclerc that the 2021 Formula 2 champion has got on top of his weakest trait as a Formula 1 driver through managing the Pirelli tyres. The 2020 Formula 3 champion had often struggled with tyre degradation but was great in Baku.

Despite Piastri ignoring Stallard ‘begging’ him to bring the hard tyres in smoothly to ensure the Australian did not destroy his Pirelli rubber, he was often able to pull away from Leclerc out of the corners with the McLaren ace finding far more traction than his rival Ferrari pilot.