McLaren team principal makes a huge F1 claim, backs Oscar Piastri to turn into “one of the best drivers on the grid”
Andrea Stella, ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has showered huge praise on McLaren F1 driver, Oscar Piastri.
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Andrea Stella and Oscar Piastri
Andrea Stella, the newly appointed McLaren Team Principal, has showered huge praise on the rookie driver, Oscar Piastri, after the Bahrain GP. In Stella’s opinion, the kid has got everything in his arsenal to do well in the sport. What has impressed him the most is Piastri’s awareness during Grand Prix events.
Oscar Piastri’s F1 debut did not last long in Bahrain, However, despite this fact, Andrea Stella is adamant that he has seen enough of him to conclude that he is bound for greatness at the pinnacle of motor racing. The McLaren Team Principal has taken over the top position after the departure of Andrea Stella ahead of the 2023 F1 season.
The Italian has been with the papaya-colored team for many years, and while praising Piastri, he recently added, “What impresses us is his awareness of his opportunities while driving. He could come back and make comments like, ‘I think I braked a little too early in corner one, I didn’t go on the throttle early enough in four’. And then you look at the data, and it is exactly it.”
“So, his awareness of the performance opportunities, that’s the first point. And then he goes out for the second run, and he cashes in these opportunities. For me, this is a definition of talent. We see a lot of it. And we are also pleased with the improvement we have seen day-by-day over the test.”
Andrea Stella has not held back in terms of praising the 21-year-old. He sees a lot of talent in Piastri’s young shoulders and ardently believes that McLaren has hit the jackpot by having him in McLaren’s schemes of things heading into the future. Both Lando and Oscar are extremely young, and if their pairing clicks, it would bode well for the team in the upcoming years.
James Key also agrees with Andrea Stella regarding Oscar Piastri
While Andrea Stella has openly praised Oscar Piastri just after the first race of the 2023 F1 season, so has the Woking-based team’s technical director, James Key. He is very happy with the feedback that Piastri provides regarding the MCL60. “He’s impressed us tremendously, actually. I’ve worked with a lot of rookies in my time, and there’s a real range of talents and attributes which each of them brings.”, said key.
He further added, “Some are mentally just naturally quick, but they’re not so good with their feedback. Some have both, some have excellent feedback, but need to do a bit of work on track, and so on. Oscar’s technical knowledge is excellent, and his feel for the car is incredibly precise. He mirrors much of how Lando talks about the car. So that’s really good for us.”
Looking at the comments of Stella and Key combined, it seems the McLaren F1 team could not have been happier. The crew is getting the right feedback from Piastri, and on the back of that, they are confident of making progress as the current season continues. However, despite having two brilliant drivers on board, the picture for the 2023 season is looking bleak at best.
McLaren struggled a lot during the Bahrain weekend, where Oscar Piastri did not finish. While Lando managed to run his MCL60 for the whole duration of the race, he ended his exploits in a disappointing P17. Taking all this into account, would the two young drivers be able to put up a strong performance during the upcoming Saudi Arabian Grand Prix?
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Rishabh Negi
(3244 Articles Published)