Rosberg defends McLaren’s ‘shocking call’ during Italian Grand Prix
Nico Rosberg has weighed in on the pit stop call made by the McLaren team that has continued to stir reactions during the Italian Grand Prix.
The former world champion labelled the decision by the Woking-based outfit as fair, despite the criticism it has continued to receive.
During the Italian Grand Prix, McLaren requested Oscar Piastri to swap positions with Lando Norris after the British driver lost track position due to a lengthy pit stop. The Australian, who indeed voiced his discontent about the decision over the team radio, would ultimately let Norris through.
The incident at the Monza circuit has since continued to stir reactions, with several F1 fans and stakeholders sharing their thoughts on it.
However, Rosberg, who spoke on the Sky Sports F1 show, explained why he believes the decision to swap both drivers on track was the right one from McLaren.
“What if the mechanic who was putting that tyre onto Lando's car is actually Oscar Piastri's lead mechanic and best friend? It's all these things you have to consider, and so there's no right or wrong. A lot of people will not like it. A lot of people will think it makes sense.”
Highlighting how pleased he was with the decision, he continued:
“I was happy they did that because with the hat that I have on, I want a super exciting Formula One championship until the very end. So I was happy that in that case, Lando had the opportunity to get the deserved points since he personally did a better job than Oscar over the Monza weekend.”
“So I thought it was good that they did that. But it's impossible. There's no right or wrong. It looked fair from the outside, of course, because it's not fair to Lando. He did everything amazingly, and then the team messes up his pit stop.”
Rosberg admits it’s a hard one for Piastri
The former Mercedes driver, however, concluded by stressing how difficult such a decision would have been for Oscar Piastri. Rosberg stated that the young driver was left with little choice other than to oblige the call from his team.
“But yeah, it's a hard one because if you're Oscar, it will drive you nuts because it's never been done before. And until then, I think internally, pit stop speed is part of racing. If one guy's pit stop is a second slower and that results in a win, that's always going to be part of racing historically.”
“That's always how it's been. Of course, in Oscar's view, you would not like it very much, but he wasn't given a choice. Once the team calls him out, he's obliged to let him pass. He can't then go against his entire team because that will look horrible and cause a disaster for him.”
The position change at the Italian Grand Prix saw Piastri’s lead at the top of the drivers’ standings cut to 30 points. The McLaren driver will now have his sights set on further extending his lead when the F1 grid heads to Baku for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
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