McLaren Boss Andrea Stella calls rookie Oscar Piastri a ‘benchmark’ and a ‘reference’ that Lando Norris should follow

Andrea Stella has said that Lando Norris should take Oscar Piastri’s success as an inspiration to keep improving himself.

McLaren Boss Andrea Stella calls rookie Oscar Piastri a ‘benchmark’ and a ‘reference’ that Lando Norris should follow

Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri with McLaren team boss Andrea Stella (via imago)

McLaren had a fantastic outing at the Qatar GP weekend. Oscar Piastri, the rookie on the team, took the Sprint win on Saturday and claimed P2 at the Qatar Grand Prix. Lando Norris finished P3, achieving a double podium for the Woking outfit. Many fans and pundits pointed it out that it is baffling how the more experienced Norris was beaten by his younger teammate Piastri at the Losail circuit. But the papaya army’s Team Principal Andrea Stella commented on this at a recent interview.

Stella started off talking about how Norris is aware of his teammate being a rare talent and that he should welcome this fact with open arms. He said [as reported by soymotor.com], “In terms of taking on the challenge with Oscar, first of all, Lando knows that his teammate is a unique talent. You don’t see this kind of talent in Formula 1 every year, so he is an absolute benchmark…even though he is a rookie.” 

YouTube video

Stella continued talking about how Lando can actually use Piastri’s pace as a benchmark to push his own performance up, saying “Sometimes Lando knows that he will set the bar very high. If you are a champion like Lando is, you will have to take it from a positive point of view because it gives you a lot of information to continue improving.” These comments from Andrea Stella depict the competitive yet collaborative atmosphere that the Team Principal is trying to foster at McLaren.

FS Video

Do not miss : Frustrated Carlos Sainz makes SHOCKING claim that drivers were not informed about last-minute changes to Qatar GP track limits

Oscar Piastri hilariously thanks Mercedes in the cooldown room

The Qatar GP podium boasted both the McLaren drivers and Max Verstappen. The trio’s hilarious exchange about Mercedes’ first lap shenanigans has gone viral. The setting of the video looks like a clip from the famous sitcom ‘The Office’. Oscar is lying down on the floor while Verstappen wipes his face with a towel as the pair discuss what happened in Turn 1 with Lando Norris, who’s seated on a chair.

Oscar Piastri (via F1)
Oscar Piastri (via F1.com)

Piastri appeared to be confused about the Lap 1 crash and asked the pair “But who caused it [the crash] at the start?”Verstappen replied saying “Lewis turned in too much” and Norris added, “George couldn’t have done anything else”. Piastri further asked “Was it Lewis and George that crashed?” and upon getting the answer, gave a high-pitched sigh and said, “Thank you, Mercedes.”

Such cooldown room moments are treasured by fans. Piastri surely will be thanking the Mercedes pair as their collision promoted the Youngster straight to P2 from P6. The rookie claimed his best result at the Losail circuit and it’ll be interesting to see how ‘racy’ the two McLarens get with each other.

In case you missed it: