DHL Fastest Pit Stop doesn't stop Oscar Piastri being stuck in 'no man's land'

This year's first Formula 1 race of the year in really scorching conditions took place in Barcelona, and track temperatures exceeding 50 degrees Celsius made tire management a big deciding factor. All the teams faced the same choice: two or three stops?

McLaren opted for the conventional approach and made two pit stops. Oscar Piastri started from seventh on mediums and gained a position thanks to Isack Hadjar's poor start but was soon overtaken by a much faster Charles Leclerc.

An early tire change by Lewis Hamilton forced all the front-runners to pit early, and by lap 14, Piastri was already switching to fresh hard tires. His crew turned him around and sent him back on his way in a lightning-fast time of 2.13 seconds, securing McLaren's first DHL Fastest Pit Stop of the year. But unfortunately, it didn't give Piastri the chance to gravitate towards the front-runners. He drove a lonely race, and it was only as a result of Leclerc and Kimi Antonelli retiring late on that he was promoted to fifth place.

"It was a big struggle today," said Piastri as he gave us his post-race analysis. "I didn't have any pace. The tire life wasn't good. We're just lacking a little bit across the board. We're one or two tenths off Mercedes and Ferrari. Hopefully we can come back stronger in Austria."