Oscar Piastri commented on the "difficult" position he would have been in Monza if the team orders to swap with Lando Norris were for the race win. The Australian was earlier asked to give up his P2 for his teammate, who had dropped to third place after a slow pit stop.
The 2025 F1 season has witnessed an all-out McLaren domination. However, unlike the Red Bull or later Mercedes era, there isn't a clear World Champion within the team. While Piastri continues to lead the standings, Norris has been closing up, and the two are expected to be in a tough battle by the end of the season.
McLaren has been rather fair all season with their drivers; however, the situation seemed to change in Monza. Max Verstappen led most of the race while Lando Norris sat in P2, with Oscar Piastri following him in P3. However, after Norris's pitstop cost him four seconds, his teammate moved to P2. But shortly after, he was asked to give the place back to Norris.
This received widespread backlash on social media, as many felt that pit stops are a part of racing, and there was no reason to make the two cars swap. Piastri, who agreed and swapped places, was recently asked a tricky question.
The 24-year-old was asked if he would have still agreed to the swap if it were for the race win, considering he was running P1 at the time. Piastri mentioned that it might have been a difficult choice in that case, and that he does not want to put himself in that scenario.
"But it wasn't, Tom, so, I don't know. It wasn't in that scenario. You know, would it have made it a bit more difficult?" He said. "Probably yes. But I don't know if the outcome would have been different. But, you know, I'm not planning on finding myself in that position."
The order from the team had a direct impact on the championship standings, with Norris being able to reduce the gap to his teammate in the lead. However, McLaren has made a decision for the future.
McLaren decided how to "go racing" in future, reveals Oscar Piastri
As mentioned, the swap between the teammates was deemed highly controversial by fans because of the impact it had on the championship standings. While McLaren did not gain anything as a team since they would have gained equal points, Piastri's position as the championship leader was threatened with Norris finishing ahead of him.
Speaking to the media, Oscar Piastri mentioned the team had internal discussions following the event, further mentioning that they had decided the startegy they would follow in the future if a similar scenario were to be repeated.
"We have had good discussions with the team," Oscar Piastri said. "Obviously a highly talked-about moment but we have had a lot of discussions, clarified a lot of things, and we know how we are going to go racing going forward, which is the most important thing. What has happened is done."
Heading into Baku for the Azerbaijan GP next, Oscar Piastri leads the championship with a 31-point gap to his teammate, Lando Norris.