Piastri believes Verstappen had a real shot at winning the Monaco GP
Updated: 17:29, 26 May 2025
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Oscar Piastri was 4th during certain stages of the Monaco Grand Prix, whilst title rival Max Verstappen was in the lead. The Aussie driver believes there was a real danger of the Dutchman vying for victory in Monte-Carlo.
Having started P4, Verstappen, after his first pitstop, decided to go long and hold out for a safety car, a strategic gamble that didn't pay off, prompted by the implementation of a mandatory two pitstop strategy.
After the race, the McLaren driver commented on the mandatory two-stop strategy that had been introduced for this racing weekend.
"It definitely made it a bit more tense at a few points," Piastri revealed after the race to media like GPblog. "You had to push more at certain points to kind of recover the safety car windows to other cars around you or put yourself outside of someone else's safety car window. So there were some strategic elements involved. But ultimately, at the front, I don’t think it changed a whole lot."
Verstappen attempted a passing move on Piastri at the start going into turn 1.
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Piastri: 'Then Max could have won the race'
The safety car/race neutralisation aspect of the race was precisely the area Red Bull wanted to exploit. By leaving Verstappen out and putting him in the lead the Austrians were hoping a red flag would come and give the Dutchman a free pitsopt essentially, a danger that Piastri, and also his McLaren team boss, saw as well.
"It would have been quite a different story if there was a red flag with five laps to go and Max would have won. I’m sure if we keep this going in the future, eventually a result like that will happen. Is that what we want to see? I don't know."
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Monaco Grand Prix
Overview
Friday 05.06.26
Practice 1
11:30 AM
Practice 2
03:00 PM
Saturday 06.06.26
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02:00 PM
Sunday 07.06.26
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01:00 PM
Friday 05.06.26
Practice 1
Fri 11:30 AM
Practice 2
Fri 03:00 PM
Saturday 06.06.26
Practice 3
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Qualification
Sat 02:00 PM
Sunday 07.06.26
Race
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