Oscar Piastri made an impressive recovery, climbing into the top 10 after initially starting at the rear of the field in Las Vegas. However, his race took a turn for the worse when he suffered a puncture during the Grand Prix after a collision with Lewis Hamilton.
Oscar Piastri is unconvinced that the puncture he received after making contact with Lewis Hamilton affected his final outcome in the Las Vegas Grand Prix.
Both Piastri and Hamilton experienced punctures while fighting for position on Lap 16. Piastri quickly pitted for a new set of Hards and had to make another pit-stop, while Hamilton kept going until the puncture became apparent just after he passed the pit-entry. This meant he had to go a full lap before he could pit.
Piastri climbed as high as fourth place, but made a pit stop towards the end of the race to switch to Medium tyres in order to comply with the regulation of using two different tyre compounds. This decision caused him to drop to 11th place.
Piastri was intrigued by the concept of a one-stop solution.
Piastri shared with the media, including RacingNews365, that it was a somewhat awkward experience.
Neither of us had fully embraced the idea of turning the corner.
First, we both agreed at the last minute. Then I tried to cancel, but we ended up compromising and I got hurt as a result.
Although the rookie was curious to see the outcome of using a one-stop strategy, he does not think that the collision with Hamilton affected his final result.
He said, “Honestly, I don’t believe it caused significant harm to our race.”
I’m curious to know if a one-stop option could have been successful at that time.
Figuring out if we were vulnerable like [Pierre] Gasly is always tough. Many people experienced difficulties during the race, and I was no exception.
