Piastri Highlights “Biggest Issue” Following Vegas GP Penalty

Oscar Piastri secured P7 at the 2024 Las Vegas Grand Prix, a challenging race weekend for the McLaren driver.

Piastri Reflects on Penalty

Oscar Piastri revealed that the five-second penalty he received during the Las Vegas Grand Prix was not the “biggest issue” of his race.

The McLaren driver was penalized for being out of position on the grid at the start, a mistake that appeared minor on camera. He served the penalty during his first pit stop, setting him back significantly. Despite this, Piastri managed to recover to finish in P7, but the penalty impacted McLaren’s championship hopes as Ferrari closed the gap to just 24 points.

When asked by outlets like RacingNews365 about his reaction to the penalty, Piastri said:
“I haven’t seen it yet. I didn’t feel like I did anything different or beyond the limit. But clearly, I was slightly off.”

He added:
“It affected things a bit after the first stop, but it wasn’t the biggest issue of the race.”

Tire Degradation: The Real Challenge

Piastri identified excessive tire degradation as the most significant obstacle he faced in the Las Vegas GP, with wear levels far exceeding expectations.

While Ferrari also struggled with high tire wear, Mercedes avoided significant degradation altogether, as noted by team principal Toto Wolff.

The weekend was particularly challenging for the Australian driver, though he acknowledged that McLaren had gained insights into their qualifying struggles.

Piastri explained:
“The weekend wasn’t great. In qualifying, we’ve got some ideas about why things didn’t come together for us in Q3.”

On the race itself, he admitted:
“The race was tougher than we expected, especially for me. Tire management was a lot harder than I anticipated. We knew tire wear would be an issue, but it was far worse than I feared. That part was unexpected, and we need to understand why.”

Piastri’s penalty and the team’s struggles in Las Vegas could have significant implications for the championship standings. With just two races remaining, McLaren must address these issues quickly if they hope to maintain their advantage over Ferrari.