Oscar Piastri admitted that finishing second for McLaren in Qatar on Sunday stung more than being disqualified from the Las Vegas Grand Prix a week earlier.

The Australian had secured pole position for the night race at Lusail after winning the Saturday sprint, but a team strategy error cost him victory and dropped him from second to third in the Formula One championship.

McLaren opted not to pit their drivers when the safety car offered a cheap stop on lap seven, leaving them out of sync with all other drivers except one in a race where two stops were essential.

That miscalculation allowed Red Bull’s four-time champion Max Verstappen to stay right behind them, with a pit stop advantage, and go on to claim the win.

“We didn’t get it right with the strategy. The pace was very strong. I didn’t put a foot wrong. Just a shame,” Piastri said.

Over the team radio, he confessed to being simply speechless.

With one race left in Abu Dhabi next weekend, Piastri sits 16 points behind championship-leading teammate Lando Norris, who started on the front row and finished fourth. Verstappen is now second in the standings, 12 points off the lead.

“I think on a personal level, I feel like I’ve lost a win today,” Piastri told reporters. “In Vegas, I lost a P4. Obviously for the team it was a pretty painful weekend. But yeah, for me personally, this probably hurts more.”

“It’s certainly not a catastrophe,” he added. “We made a wrong decision today, that’s clear. But it’s not like the world ended. It hurts at the moment, but with time, things will get better.”

Piastri has won seven races this year and had been 34 points clear of Norris before a slump that began after his last victory at Zandvoort at the end of August.

Sunday’s result marked his first podium in seven races, and he had been the standout performer all weekend.

“I feel like you always become stronger through some of these moments,” Piastri said, with an eye on becoming Australia’s first world champion since Alan Jones in 1980. “It all depends on how you deal with it. I’m sure we’ll get through it. But yeah, it obviously hurts right now.”