F1 Driver โฃWeighs Risk of Penalty forโ Championship Push
Mexico City – Former Formula 1 engineer Craig Windsor believes Oscar โขPiastri should have prioritized an all-out qualifying effort in the Mexican Grand Prix’s second practice session, even if โฃitโฃ meant accepting a potential penalty. Windsor’s assessment comes after Piastri finished eleventh in FP2,significantly behind โขteammate Lando Norris whoโ set the fastest โtime.
Windsor highlighted โขPiastri’s apparent lack of โurgency, noting a willingness โฃto risk โa fine was justified given the championship stakes. “It doesn’t happenโ often that you asโฃ a driver have a chance of winning the world title in the last race,” Windsor โstated, suggesting the potential rewardโข outweighed the risk of a penalty. โHe โคpointed out the equal points distribution across all Grand Prixโ and noted both Max Verstappen and Lando Norris had faced similar โฃdisadvantages earlier inโข the season.
The discussionโค followed Piastri’s subdued performance during FP2, where Norris instantly posted a quickโฃ lap on softโข tires. Windsor observed that McLaren appeared to gain โlimited insightโ from Piastri’sโ session, referencing learnings fromโ Pato O’Ward’s earlier โฃpractice โฃrun.
While Piastri showed initial pace exitingโ the pit lane, Windsor โemphasized a promising second qualifying attempt on used soft โtires – a 1:23.8 compared toโ Norris’ โ1:23.4โ – was not enough. The gap widened to seven tenths โon new tires. โข
Race engineer Tom Stallard’s radio message to Piastri – โฃ”you โขhave no problem. This isโข not โa bad โtime on used tires” – drew criticism fromโ Windsor, who argued it was insufficient encouragement for a championship contender.”It shouldโฃ have been thereโข as soon as heโ drove โคout. He โshould haveโ given 100 percent to win the race and therefore the championship,” โขWindsor said, adding the situation revealed McLaren’s โinability โคto support two title candidates together.
Windsor concluded by describingโข Piastri’s demeanor during the โfirst practiceโฃ session as “incredible and dramatic,” noting he was observed sitting on the pit โคwall and even yawning.
