Stella defends McLaren's Hungarian GP strategy after Piastri's furious radio outburst at Sainz

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has defended the squad’s second pitstop strategy at the Hungarian Grand Prix after Oscar Piastri vented his frustration on team radio, accusing backmarker Carlos Sainz of blocking him and directing sarcasm at his own engineers when the race lead slipped away.

Piastri had earned the lead fair and square on lap one, sweeping past pole-sitter Lando Norris after his team-mate drifted offline through the dust in Turn 2. With overtaking extremely difficult without a tyre offset, Norris spent much of the afternoon hinting he could run faster in clear air, but the usual pitstop etiquette — the leading car stops first — kept Piastri ahead through the first stint.

The situation changed on lap 34 when Ferrari’s Lewis Hamilton, who had already pitted several laps earlier, was 25 seconds behind the leader and closing fast. Stella said the threat of an undercut from Hamilton forced McLaren’s hand.

“When Hamilton pits, he is in condition to undercut the two McLarens, so we needed to respond,” Stella explained. “Oscar was in the lead, and we thought that he was the right car to stop for that.”

Piastri emerged from the pits four seconds clear, leaving a gap for Norris to slot into. But Williams driver Sainz baulked Piastri on his out-lap, and Norris — running in clean air — found enough extra pace to complete a rare overcut and take the lead.

The sequence triggered an immediate and colourful response from Piastri. “Get out of the f** way you idiot, oh my god,” he raged at Sainz over the radio, before turning his frustration towards his own team. “Nice of you guys to factor that one in by the way, thanks,” he said sarcastically.

Stella acknowledged the outburst was understandable given the circumstances, but maintained the pitstop call was correct. Piastri himself later conceded that McLaren had little alternative but to pit him when they did.

The result underlined the pressure building inside McLaren as the reigning constructors’ champions search for a first race win of the 2026 season. Early-season dominator Mercedes had already been challenged by a resurgent, heavily upgraded Ferrari, and McLaren’s own significant floor upgrade at Budapest had raised expectations that a victory was within reach — making the near-miss all the more painful for Piastri.