McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has spoken out about Oscar Piastri’s impressive but unlucky drive at the Australian Grand Prix. The Australian driver was in contention to win the season opener as he slowly reeled in team-mate Lando Norris in the opening portion of the race.
Unfortunately for the Melbourne-born driver, the poor weather became a large factor in his race, with him eventually running wide at Turn 11 of lap 44 after an almost perfect race. His Papaya machine came to a stop on wet grass, and while he was able to reverse it out in a masterful exhibition of clutch work, he wasn’t able to claw his way up the grid to where he arguably deserved to be.
Norris, who had a mightily impressive race, finished on the top of the podium, separating the drivers by 23 points as they enter the race week of the Chinese Grand Prix.
“Definitely mixed feelings because until the moment where both drivers hit this sudden rain in the last sector,” Stella said reflecting on Pastri’s home race. “Oscar and Lando were driving brilliantly, both, and effectively Oscar just paid a bigger price than Lando with going off-track and then not being able to come out of the grass.
“But I think Oscar today was deserving to be in contention for the victory until the last moment, and he drove exceptionally well. And when I use the verb ‘driving,’ that’s not only driving the car around the track, but it’s also the kind of assessment of the conditions and the decisions that we should have taken.”
Piastri was ordered to maintain position as the McLarens weaved between back markers. He has always shown a high level of maturity, but this race further proved the team’s driver pairing is one of the greatest on the grid as they maintained their lead at the front of the pack for the majority of the race.
“It was very lucid, very calm, and it’s, you know, like starting his year three in Formula 1, but he looks like one of the most expert drivers that I’ve worked with. So extremely impressed by Oscar today, just a little bit unlucky. Extremely impressed through how the weekend, you know… first all locked-in by McLaren.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
According to the Italian, Piastri is moments away from his big break.
“I already explained yesterday the importance of how much the drivers supported each other through the weekend by learning from each other. And I think some of the lap times we saw and the gaps we saw in qualifying are the derivation of this interaction between our two drivers.
“I think if the car keeps performing at this level of competitiveness, big satisfactions for Oscar are not far in time.”
