McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has explained the thinking behind the team’s decision not to pit drivers under the safety car at the Qatar Grand Prix, which was a major late-game twist in the F1 title race.
McLaren made a costly mistake by keeping leader Piastri and third-place Lando Norris on track after the safety car was brought out on lap seven, costing title rival Max Verstappen the victory in a race that appeared to be won by McLaren. Only one other car did not pit that lap.
Piastri finished second and Norris fourth.
Verstappen’s victory, his fifth in the past eight races, confirms that his three-way title showdown with the McLaren driver at this weekend’s season finale, the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1.
Norris leads Verstappen by 12 points, with Piastri a further four points ahead.
Immediately afterward, Piastri said on the team radio that he was “speechless” about the race from the front, while Norris admitted, “It wasn’t my best day, but that’s life.”
Stella said that avoiding Norris becoming double-stuck in the pit lane behind Piastri, which could have cost the Briton the position, was a “consideration” in the strategic decision, but “was not the main reason”.
Why did McLaren lock out its cars?
The season’s penultimate Grand Prix began on lap seven when Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and Sauber’s Nico Hulkenberg collided in the first turn of the Lusail International Circuit, causing the latter’s car to spin into the gravel and bring out the safety car.
Tire stints at the high-speed event in Qatar were limited to 25 laps due to wear concerns, effectively making it a two-stop race, but conveniently Lap 7 was the earliest point in the 57-lap race where drivers could pit and complete the same 25-lap stint twice to the finish.
Compared to normal race conditions, drivers lose less race time by pitting under the safety car.
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Lando Norris absent from Qatar GP, Max Verstappen pits under safety car
However, McLaren surprisingly chose to keep race leader Piastri out, with Norris following him and starting from lap eight behind the safety car. However, Red Bull pitted Verstappen, who was running second among McLaren drivers at the time, and the Dutchman followed into the pit lane with 16 other drivers.
When the race restarted on lap 11, Verstappen was lined up just behind Piastri and Norris and only needed to make one more pit stop, although the McLarens still had to make two more stops. McLaren was unable to recover through pace alone, and in the end Verstappen beat Piastri to victory by eight seconds, with Norris finishing fourth behind Williams’ Carlos Sainz.
Explaining the thinking behind the expensive decision, Stella said: “There was obviously a reason why we did it because we effectively conceded one pit stop to our rival who was faster today.
“The reason was because we didn’t want to get stuck in traffic after the pit stop, but obviously all the other cars and the team had a different opinion about the safety car on lap seven.
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Andrea Stella admits it was McLaren’s mistake not to pit under the safety car after Max Verstappen won the Qatar Grand Prix
“Everyone pitted and in the end our stay-out was inaccurate from a race result point of view. Verstappen was faster and the tires had less degradation, so in the end this decision went against us significantly, as clearly Oscar was in control of the race and deserved to win.”
The McLaren boss added: “It was a decision. In fact, it wasn’t the right decision.”
On lap seven, just before the safety car was called, Piastri led Verstappen by 2.6 seconds, with Norris also leading by 4.4 seconds.
Meanwhile, Norris was 1.7 seconds behind fourth-placed Kimi Antonelli and a further 2 seconds behind Sainz.
Stella added: “Certainly for Lando there was a special consideration of losing extra time with the double pit stop, so that was in the consideration.”
“However, that was not the main reason why both vehicles were not stopped.
“We thought traffic could be an issue for both cars, but actually that wasn’t the correct interpretation of the situation at the time and we should have had it.”
Did McLaren’s ‘Papaya Rule’ play a wrong role?
McLaren has gone to great lengths to ensure fairness between its two drivers this year as it aims to become world champion for the first time.
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2025 Qatar GP Highlights
The team’s ‘Papaya Rule’ provides a framework for how to operate evenly on track, but a strategic error in Qatar, with Norris stopping just after his teammate, sparked debate over whether the team’s decision-making could have been compromised by Norris stopping immediately after his teammate, potentially costing Antonelli and potentially Sainz positions as well.
Bernie Collins of Sky Sports F1:
“Piastri had a three-second lead over Verstappen. Given that advantage, I don’t understand why Oscar Piastri wouldn’t pit if it was a standalone car.”
“For Lando Norris, it’s a little more difficult. He gets stuck with his teammates and has to open up a gap, how many positions will he lose?
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Oscar Piastri was very unhappy with his second place finish in Qatar, saying a misjudgment in McLaren’s pit strategy cost him any chance of victory.
“If you ask about Papaya’s rules, it hurts that he is hesitant to stack Norris and hinders his chances of achieving all that he can.
“Only those inside McLaren know the real answer to that. They have a lot of work to do.”
Martin Brundle of Sky Sports F1:
“I don’t think the papaya rule hurt McLaren. I just think they misread the rule.”
“They thought there would be a safety car opportunity later on and wanted that flexibility.
“Almost everyone else was double-stacked. Andrea pointed out that he thought half the field would stay out because he was just in the lead. Lap seven was the first point where it made sense to pit.”
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Lando Norris talks about McLaren’s decision not to pit his car under the safety car during the Qatar Grand Prix
“They misunderstood everything and got it wrong. It would have hurt Lando Norris’ stacking. Who knows if they could have fed them.”
“I don’t think they had that in mind. I think they thought they were doing the right thing strategically to remain flexible after the race.”
“But the tires didn’t fall apart and Max Verstappen was fast enough.”
Lando Norris:
“It has nothing to do with it. Everyone keeps thinking about it, but it has nothing to do with it. We are free to race.
“Red Bull were as fast today as they were yesterday. They did a better job as a team and made the right decisions. That’s all.”
“We look back at things and think about what we could have done better. We already know, we didn’t make the right decisions. It’s impossible to get everything right.”
Oscar Piastri:
“I don’t know if today’s decision has anything to do with that. We could have just been wrong. I’ll talk to the team.”
Oscar Piastri has the most work to do of the three candidates to win the title in Abu Dhabi
“I feel like I missed out on winning.”
The result was particularly painful for Piastri, given that he had been in good form all weekend, leading his two rivals.
He took pole position for both the winning sprint and the main grand prix, and was looking for his first Sunday win since the Dutch Grand Prix at the end of August.
And although Verstappen still finished two places ahead of Norris, he is now four points closer to the Briton on points, making Piastri an absolute outsider when it comes to winning the title in Abu Dhabi.
“I haven’t spoken to anyone but as you can imagine I feel pretty bad. I don’t know what to say,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“My strategy didn’t work out. The pace was very strong. I didn’t make any mistakes. It’s just a shame.”
“I left it up to the team to decide what the best strategy was (to pit or not). They had more information than I did.”
Piastri added in the post-race press conference, “On a personal level, I feel like we missed out on the win today. As you know, in Las Vegas we lost in fourth place (due to two team disqualifications).”
“Obviously it was a pretty tough weekend for the team. But yeah, personally I think it probably hurt more.”
The 2025 F1 season concludes with the title-deciding Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, which will be broadcast live on Sky Sports F1 from Friday. Stream Sky Sports now – cancel anytime with no contract
