Piastri's Singapore puncture paradox: the slow tyre that helped him pass Hamilton

Oscar Piastri turned a slow puncture into an unlikely advantage at the Singapore Grand Prix on Sunday, using the forced pit stop to find the pace he needed to overhaul Lewis Hamilton and claim fifth place at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.

Piastri had been running a distant sixth when the virtual safety car was deployed on lap 39 after Lance Stroll pulled over with a clutch issue. Despite holding the oldest tyres of any frontrunner, Hamilton elected to stay out on worn soft rubber. Piastri initially did the same, but a developing slow puncture sent him back to the pits two laps later for a fresh set of softs.

He rejoined 37 seconds behind Hamilton, but the new compound gave him a two-second-per-lap advantage. By the antepenultimate lap he had erased the entire deficit, and Hamilton — whose tyres were 44 laps old — had no answer at the end of the stint.

“That was definitely the most we could have done, we didn’t have the pace to do any more,” Piastri said. “Obviously, the puncture was a bit of a shame, but ironically, it actually probably helped. I got Lewis at the end, so there is a silver lining to everything.”

The Australian acknowledged the overtake itself was not straightforward. “It was tough, because also, once you get there, it doesn’t take much to overheat the tyres and you kind of get stuck at their pace,” he explained. “But with how quickly I was catching, I would have been pretty disappointed in myself if I didn’t get past.”

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella confirmed the team would investigate the puncture’s cause with tyre supplier Pirelli, describing it as an unusual occurrence. “It’s the first time that I hear about a slow puncture this year,” Stella said. “It didn’t cost very much to Oscar today, but in a closer race, it could have been a significant loss of time, so definitely something that we need to get on top of.”

The result nonetheless extended Piastri’s difficult run of form. The fifth-place finish marked his 13th consecutive grand prix without a podium — his worst streak since the opening rounds of his rookie 2023 season. The 2025 title contender had recorded 28 top-three finishes across his previous 57 starts before this barren run began.