McLaren’s decision to start both cars on intermediate tyres in Montreal ultimately backfired after conditions rapidly dried out.
That left the team on the back foot in an ultimately pointless race after Lando Norris retired with a gearbox issue and Piastri finished 11th.
The Australian said the post-race debrief focused less on blame and more on understanding how the decision to start on intermediates unfolded.
“I think it was just a review of how we ended making the decision we made,” Piastri said.
“I think there were very good reasons for making the decision we made.
“Potentially some oversight on a few, what ended up being key factors that we need to do a better job of working with.”
Piastri maintained the call was finely balanced in the moment, with conditions shifting rapidly before the start.
“I think at the time it was a very 50-50 call,” he said.
“Again, as I said after the race, if it had kept raining for another couple of minutes it could’ve looked like quite a different story.”
He reiterated that McLaren was not alone in considering the switch, pointing to other teams that also explored the option.
“We know that there were others who wanted intermediates that couldn’t get them in time,” he explained.
“So I think for us there was a lot of logic behind it.
“Clearly it didn’t work out the way we wanted, but I think it was just one of those ones you review and see how you can improve a bit.
“Obviously it looked dramatic, but I really don’t think it was that dramatic.”
Attention now turns to Monaco, where McLaren arrives marking its 1000th Grand Prix, with Piastri saying the occasion carries personal significance.
“Very, very cool to be a part of,” he said.
“It’s a special thing for me to look back at and go ‘I was one of the race winners for McLaren’.
“Hopefully there are still plenty more to add.”
While Monaco’s unforgiving layout presents its own risks, Piastri said the new generation of cars should be better suited to the circuit than the predecessors, despite ongoing concerns around wheel locking.
“You always know that’s a concern in Monaco, because obviously if you do it and it goes wrong, it goes very wrong,” he said.
“But I think in general it’ll be interesting to see. I think from a power unit side of things it should be more normal here, which is good.”
He added that the characteristics of the 2026 cars could make for a more competitive weekend in the principality.
“And the cars are probably more suited to this place than the previous generation of cars,” Piastri reasoned.
“So it should be good fun I think.”
Piastri also suggested Ferrari could emerge as a strong contender this weekend, pointing to their performance profile through slow-speed corners as a key advantage at the principality.
“The trend we’ve seen from the start of the year is that they’re generally the quickest in the corners and slower on the straights,” Piastri said.
“Here we don’t have as many straights and we should be able to do all of them full power all the way to the end of the straight.
“I think they’ll definitely be towards the front.”
Piastri sits sixth in the drivers’ standings on 48 points after the first five rounds.
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