Stella bursts 'Norris could have won' bubble in startling Piastri claim
Oscar Piastri
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Oscar Piastri, having lost the Sprint to Max Verstappen, gritted his teeth and overtook teammate Lando norris to get the win at the Formula One Belgian Grand Prix. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella now clears any doubts surrounding the Australian's win in the face of a potential Norris comeback.
On lap 12 Piastri came into the pits from the lead to don medium tyres on his MCL39. Norris followed suit a lap later, but for the hard tyre.
The strategy had been discussed prior to the race amongst the team, so it was no surprise that both drivers ran split strategies from each other.
Since then there's been much deliberation regarding Norris' chances to overturn the outcome had he not made several mistakes that ultimately derailed his potential race-winning charge.
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Stella sets the record straight: 'Hats off to Oscar'
"I think this weekend Oscar, if anything, the only inaccuracy here was yesterday in qualifying, where his laps weren't perfect," said Stella to the likes of GPblog after the Belgian Grand Prix.
Piastri, having bagged Sprint pole, he was not confident of his chances to retain the lead after lap 1 - reservations which were proved right by Max Verstappen.
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During qualifying Piastri couldn't overthrow Norris' pole position time, after which the Australian made a joke, which Stella referenced with a wink of his own as well.
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"As a joke, after the qualifying yesterday, he (Piastri, ed.), said, 'that was not my best lap in Q3.' But perhaps this is the best place not to have the best lap in Q3."
Regarding the split strategy and Norris' chances to get back at Piastri, Stella believed that the Australian driver had everything under control as he drove to a 6th win this season at Spa, a record amongst Australian Formula One drivers.
"So yeah, Oscar, even in the long run on medium tyres, I think he was able to control the degradation. And in fact, I think he scored his best lap, if I'm not wrong, in the second last."
"Meaning that he was ultimately controlling his mirrors and the time to Lando. So, overall, hats off to Oscar," concluded the Italian team boss.
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