Oscar Piastri was left ruing his luck during the 2025 F1 Miami GP Sprint after a well-timed switch to slick tyres was undone by a mid-race Safety Car. The McLaren driver was on course for a strong finish until the neutralisation scrambled the running order.
“I waited for it to dry up and then put dry tyres on. It was pretty much as simple as that,” Piastri explained in the Post-Sprint conference. “I was tempted to go the lap before, but we were going to come out in a bunch of traffic and with one dry line. That’s not a very nice position to be in.”
Timing of Safety Car not in Piastri’s favour
With a comfortable gap to the cars behind, McLaren opted to delay the stop by a lap, which Piastri believed was the safest call.
“We went a lap later because we were miles ahead of the cars behind, so we didn’t really have to risk it. And yeah, it was clearly the right time for slicks.
“You know, just the timing of the Safety Car was not in our favour. But there’s not much we could have done.”
There was never any real consideration to stretching the intermediate tyres to the end.
“Even the lap I pitted, I was more than ready to. Again, without the traffic the lap before, I was very comfortable to pit one lap earlier than we did. So to try and do another five, six laps on an inter – you would have had slicks by the end, but not because you pitted, because your inters were completely destroyed.”
The moment that truly changed his race? “I mean, the reaction when the Safety Car came out was ‘not again,’” Piastri admitted, especially given how a similarly bad-timed SC interruption last year had cost him and helped set up Lando Norris’ first F1 win.
“There’s not much you can do in that circumstance.
“I knew I had a pretty comfortable gap behind, so I wasn’t taking too many risks. I could see that I was a little bit faster than Lando. So I thought I had that one pretty much under control once we pitted.”
Despite the setback, Piastri remained positive about the execution of his race.
“I think I’m leaving that Sprint knowing that I did everything I could, and everything that was in my control was well executed. And that’s all I can ask for.”
Oscar Piastri on Lap 1 Kimi Antonelli battle
Piastri also highlighted a strong opening lap and an intense wheel-to-wheel battle with sprint polesitter Kimi Antonelli.
“I had a really good start. Obviously got alongside. I think we probably both braked a little bit later than we should have. And yeah, there was a bit of contact, but I pulled it up still pretty comfortably,” Piastri said.
“With that move, it would have won me the Sprint if there was no Safety Car, so I think it was a good first lap.”
Piastri remains hopeful for 2025 F1 Miami GP weekend
Looking ahead to the F1 Miami GP Qualifying and main race, he feels there’s still more performance to unlock from the car. “I’ve been happy with it, yes,” he said. “I think there was a bit left on the table yesterday in Sprint quali, so I’ll try and tidy that up.”
“The car’s been performing well. I think even in the wet conditions today, it seemed fast. So I don’t think we’ll reinvent the wheel, but of course, we’ll try and find a little bit more time if we can.”
