McLaren is impressed with F1 rookie Oscar Piastri’s “strong progress” despite poor results on track

Andrea Stella acknowledges Oscar Piastri's steady progress.

McLaren is impressed with F1 rookie Oscar Piastri’s “strong progress” despite poor results on track

Andrea Stella & Oscar Piastri. Images via Formula Rapida and XPB.

Oscar Piastri’s Formula One debut was not what he expected. The F1 rookie joined McLaren for the 2023 season with a dramatic exit from Alpine. At the season opener, in the Bahrain Grand Prix qualifying, the Aussie failed to make Q2. Things went from bad to worse on race day. He suffered an electrical issue early, and his race ended. Well, he could not have seen that coming.

In the Saudi Arabian GP qualifying, Piastri made Q3. It was a job well done by the rookie. He qualified ninth while his teammate, Lando Norris, had damage to his car in Q1. However, the race did not go well for the McLaren duo. The drivers had front wing damage, which led to early pit stops. The race ended with Piastri in 15th place and Lando Norris finishing 17th. Despite the team’s bad luck, Andrea Stella praised the young Australian.

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Andrea Stella acknowledged Oscar Piastri’s progress. The Mclaren team boss told Autosport, “We have seen really strong progress by Oscar. Obviously, Lando is a complete certainty. So we know that Lando is there. So there are some positives, but for me, the message stays the same. We need to work hard to improve the car and go back to racing where we should belong.”

Related: Damon Hill questions Oscar Piastri’s career choice, claims the Australian regrets moving to McLaren

Andrea Stella believes Oscar Piastri has the potential to perform better

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Oscar Piastri. Image via McLaren.

Andrea Stella explained Oscar Piastri’s performance in Jeddah. He feels that it is steady progress. “I wouldn’t say that he took a big step. For me, it’s going steady progress session-by-session. But, like if you look back, already in FP1 he was a little bit more competitive than Bahrain, then FP2 closer, then FP3 was pretty much a match for Lando, capitalising in qualifying, and then very strong in the race.”

“For me, I see more the sense of constant progression, which is ultimately the plan that we have with Oscar”, said the Italian. He revealed McLaren’s plan for the F2 champion. The next stop is the Australian GP, the home race of Oscar Piastri. It will be a big weekend for him as it is his home debut.

Andrea Stella is certain that Piastri will stay focused on racing. The team from their side will also make sure he is focused on the race and keep up with the development session after session. Stella feels the Melbourne track will be more similar to Saudi Arabia than Bahrain, regarding the tarmac grip and speed corners. McLaren looks forward to being able to challenge for good points in the upcoming races.

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