Piastri rues "painful" team blunder that cost him so much

The race to be crowned world champion remains a three-driver race but Oscar Piastri was left fuming over a McLaren strategy disaster that cost him victory in the Qatar Grand Prix.

The Australian, who started the weekend 24 points behind teammate Lando Norris in the overall standings, secured a vital win and eight points in the sprint race before claiming pole position for the Grand Prix.

Piastri finished second behind Max Verstappen with Carlos Sainz rounding out the podium while Norris secured fourth after a last-lap overtake on Kimi Antonello.

It marked Piastri's first podium in seven races. A timely return.

He had put on a faultless performance just days after publicly stating he would not be helping Norris to claim his maiden title despite the team asking him to.

A shame the same could not be said about McLaren.

An early safety car on lap in the Grand Prix gifted drivers the chance for a tyre change but McLaren opted to keep both drivers on track. The only team to do so.

On a track where a two-stop is obligatory it was a poor decision as it left both drivers at a significant disadvantage for the rest of the race.

"Clearly we didn't get it right tonight," Piastri said afterwards. "I drove the best race I could and as fast as I could. There was nothing left out there.

“Pretty gut-wrenching, to be honest. It felt like I drove probably the best weekend I’ve had this year, if not in F1, so to not have the result is painful.

“On a personal level, I feel like I’ve lost a win today. In Vegas, I lost a P4. Obviously for the team, it’s a pretty painful weekend. For me personally, this probably hurts more.

"I tried my best but it wasn't to be tonight unfortunately. In hindsight it's pretty obvious what we would have done, but I'm sure we will discuss it as a team.

"It's not all bad. it's been a really good weekend and that pace has been very strong. It's a little bit tough to swallow at the moment."

Piastri told his engineer he was totally speechless over the radio as he crossed the line. He then appeared totally shell-shocked on the podium.

“I tried to get some words out of Oscar after the race but he was absolutely broken," Martin Brundle told Sky F1 afterwards.

“Of course they (Norris and Piastri) should have both come in, or they should have split the strategy. Hindsight is a wonderful thing.

“McLaren have two against one but actually that cost them tonight in a way because Red Bull had total freedom without a second car to think about.”

As things stand, Norris heads into the season finale in Abu Dhabi on 408 points, Verstappen is second on 396 and Piastri third on 392.

If Norris wins the next Grand Prix he will be world champion. For Verstappen to win he would need the Briton to finish 4th or worse.

Piastri would need to win the race and have Norris 6th or worse.

It is the first time in 15 years that F1 has gone down to the final race with three drivers still mathematically in contention.

McLaren were unable to explain what had led to their safety car decision but the experts were all in agreement; this was a freebie for Verstappen and treating your drivers as equals had come home to roost for the team.

“They are shell-shocked down here at McLaren," Ted Kravitz said on Sky F1. "They don’t know what to say, they have gone down to the back of the garage.

“They said no interviews until after the podium. They need to go and understand, get their ducks in a row, and explain this all away.”