In his rookie year, Oscar Piastri has already celebrated several successes, three of which make him particularly proud – What Mclaren team boss Andrea Stella appreciates about him
Oscar Piastri has made a big impression in his rookie season. The McLaren driver made it onto the podium twice on Sunday. He was even able to celebrate his first victory, albeit “only” in the short race at the Qatar Sprint.
McLaren team boss Andrea Stella is correspondingly satisfied with the Formula 1 rookie’s debut. “In our opinion, our analysis, Oscar’s season was simply exceptional. And when I say exceptional, I mean that it has exceeded our expectations,” says the Italian.
He emphasizes one of Piastri’s characteristics in particular: “He learns very quickly. This has been demonstrated over the course of a race, a weekend and the entire season.”
“His improvement is really impressive. Of course, this raises expectations for next season, and expectations need work to be confirmed. But the good thing about Oscar is that he is so down to earth and so committed. “
What Stella appreciates most about Piastri
Stella sees this as one of the main reasons for Piastri’s steep learning curve: “It’s the person behind the driver. He is so calm and so good at keeping himself in a state where he can get the best out of his talent.”
“I don’t have that quality,” admits the McLaren team principal. “I have to think about it very actively: What am I thinking? What are my feelings? I have to think about my psyche to actively keep myself in the most productive state possible. For Oscar, that seems to be a very natural thing.”
“That’s the main talent, if you will, that he may have naturally, or maybe he worked on it during his young career, I don’t know. “
“It’s definitely remarkable. When I look at great riders, currently or in the past, all of them have underperformed at times because they haven’t stayed in the condition where they can perform at their best. I think it’s natural for Oscar. “
Piastri highlights three races in particular
Piastri himself summarizes his first year in Formula 1 as “a great season with many highlights”. “I wouldn’t have been able to achieve these if the team hadn’t improved the car the way we did. So I have to give them a lot of credit,” emphasizes the Australian.
“But to give myself a pat on the back, I think I also had to deliver in those moments,” he continues. He has special memories of Silverstone: “For me, that’s probably the proudest moment.”
Piastri finished fourth there, narrowly missing out on the podium. It was his strongest race result in Formula 1 to date. “We were competing with a competitive car that I was able to get the best out of.” The first podium followed a few weeks later at the Japanese Grand Prix with third place
“Japan wasn’t my best race,” says Piastri looking back, “but I did enough to achieve my first podium. And in Qatar (1st in the sprint, 2nd in the race) we had the only opportunity all year to really win something. And we made the most of it. I can be very proud of that.”
McLaren’s rollercoaster has taught Piastri a lot
When the McLaren driver looks back on the season as a whole, “there were definitely a few more difficult weekends and things we still need to work on”.
“You don’t win championships by having one or two good weekends. I know that from my junior career, so I just have to do it more often,” says Piastri. “I definitely know a lot more now than I did at the start of the year.”
In hindsight, Piastri even sees the fact that the season was more of a rollercoaster ride for McLaren than expected, with some lows at the beginning and many highs at the end, as a positive. “I feel like I’ve experienced pretty much every situation you can experience, apart from a championship fight,” he says.
“So it’s been a good year where we’ve learned as a team how to be at the front again, which is very exciting. It’s a position we haven’t been in for ten years. So it’s nice to experience that. And for me, it’s a real privilege to be fighting at the front so early in my career.”
“There are people who don’t have the opportunity that I’ve had in 22 races in their entire Formula 1 career. So I’m very, very grateful for that. And I’m looking forward to many more years where hopefully we can do this more often.””Japan wasn’t my best race,” says Piastri looking back, “but I did enough to get my first podium. And in Qatar (1st in the sprint, 2nd in the race) we had the only opportunity all year to really win something. And we made the most of it. I can be very proud of that. “
McLaren’s rollercoaster has taught Piastri a lot
When the McLaren driver looks back on the season as a whole, “there were definitely a few more difficult weekends and things we still need to work on”.
“You don’t win championships by having one or two good weekends. I know that from my junior career, so I just have to do it more often,” says Piastri. “I definitely know a lot more now than I did at the start of the year.”
In hindsight, Piastri even sees the fact that the season was more of a rollercoaster ride for McLaren than expected, with some lows at the beginning and many highs at the end, as a positive. “I feel like I’ve experienced pretty much every situation you can experience, apart from a championship fight,” he says.
“So it’s been a good year where we’ve learned as a team how to be at the front again, which is very exciting. It’s a position we haven’t been in for ten years. So it’s nice to experience that. And for me, it’s a real privilege to be fighting at the front so early in my career.”
“There are people who don’t have the opportunity that I’ve had in 22 races in their entire Formula 1 career. So I’m very, very grateful for that. And I’m looking forward to many more years where hopefully we can do this more often. “
