Strategy plays a key role in F1, and pit-stops can be crucial for a team to play that out. Given McLaren’s ascension to the front of the field in 2024, the margin for error has decreased substantially. Oscar Piastri’s recent team radio revelation just goes to show how seriously the Woking-based outfit is chasing even the smallest of details.
On a recent episode of the Fast and the Curious podcast, Piastri revealed that McLaren’s race engineers have sometimes confused his voice with teammate Lando Norris’ during radio communications.
“It’s caused some confusion in the past when we’ve not said our names,” the #81 driver said. “We sounded so similar on the radio that it was a genuine concern that it would get mixed up.”
The straightforward solution McLaren has implemented is to have drivers state their names on the radio when entering the pit lane. “I do have to tell my team that it is me entering the pitlane, not Lando,” he explained.
: Christian Horner criticized McLaren’s strategy at the Hungarian GP, questioning their decision to pit Lando Norris before Oscar Piastri, which led to a late-race team orders debacle. Horner noted that McLaren unnecessarily complicated their race despite being in a strong… pic.twitter.com/dJ2wfeM3sA
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Piastri noted that this is a common issue in other F1 teams as well, but suggested there isn’t a specific rule that addresses it. Nonetheless, McLaren has made it a clear mandate to implement this practice to prevent chaos during sessions
Piastri revealed that a simple “Oscar, pitlane” would be enough for the team to know which of the two drivers is coming in to box.
That said, while the team has adopted this to increase efficiency, the hosts of the podcast found this a very absurd idea. Nonetheless, with six races remaining in the season, every second is crucial for McLaren if they want to win both, the Driver’s and Constructors’ titles.
McLaren is 41 points ahead of Red Bull in the team standings, which places them in a relatively comfortable position with six races remaining. However, the drivers’ situation is not as straightforward. Norris trails Max Verstappen by 52 points and must aim for a win in every race to have a chance at the championship.
Even a single slip-up—such as in the pits—could effectively hand the World Championship to his title rival, Verstappen.
