Piastri identifies learning opportunity from Hungarian GP 'killer'

Oscar Piastri has pinpointed tyre degradation as the factor which'killed' his hopes of a Formula 1 podium finish in the HungarianGrand Prix. From fourth on the grid, Piastri leapfrogged bothpole-sitter Lewis Hamilton and teammate Lando Norris at the startto run second in the opening laps at the Hungaroring behind leaderMax Verstappen. While Norris was able to secure a second straightrunner-up finish to Verstappen, Piastri slipped back during theGrand Prix, being undercut by Norris and then passed by both SergioPerez and Hamilton as he slipped to fifth. But despite the troubleswith tyre degradation, the rookie has spotted a potential area tolearn from how the race played out. Piastri's learning chance "Tyredegradation was the killer for me," Piastri told media includingRacingNews365. "I'm not 100% sure why [that is] yet, but it issomething for me to look at. "This is one of the first races whereI've had a race with so much degradation and multiple pitstops sothere is plenty for me to learn. "That was the sole key to my race.I made life easy for myself in the first stint and then it kind ofunravelled from there. "So there are plenty of things to try andimprove on, but to have the struggles that I did, and still comeaway with a top five is quite a nice position to be in." At thefirst round of pitstops, McLaren opted to pit Norris first eventhough he was running behind Piastri in second place, giving theBritish driver the undercut once Piastri had pitted himself. Thisgoes against the usual rule teams use by giving the car ahead ontrack the preferential strategy - but Piastri admitted it did notmake much difference to his race. "The undercut was a lot biggerthan we expected, but at the end of the day, it didn't change myrace," he said. "I clearly didn't have the pace to stay with Landoor challenge him, but the biggest takeaway is to look into the tyredegradation and management. "You can do the best starts and firststints in the world, but if you can't hang on for the next stint,it doesn't matter."