While Oscar Piastri continues to impress in his second-ever F1 season, he fades in comparison to his teammate Lando Norris. McLaren team principal Andrea Stella had cited Piastri’s race pace as the reason behind his gap to Norris, but the Aussie has worked on it since. It hasn’t gone unnoticed either, with Stella praising the Melbourne-born driver in an interview with SpeedCafe.
“Oscar is doing very, very well,” Stella said. “Especially, I would say, after we got some information on board in the early races, about managing tires, reviewing, in particular, China, we realized a couple of things.”
Recalling the Miami GP, Stella also appreciated Piastri for being close to Norris in the race. Despite not getting the upgrade Norris did that afternoon, Piastri qualified in P6 for the race. He was unlucky to not get points, but McLaren appreciated the work he put in.
The following race in Imola, he showed true pace with the upgrades on his car, qualifying on the front row before being demoted due to a penalty.
️| andrea stella on oscar piastri….
andrea has been incredibly vocal about oscar’s performance this year, stating that our rookie exceeded all expectations and made the team proud
credits: autosport pic.twitter.com/EhvZbzUWJS
— Piastri Updates (@PiastriNews) December 4, 2023
Monaco turned out to be Piastri’s biggest moment of the season. Not only did he outshine his teammate, Piastri finished P2, securing his first podium of the season. Given the same, the belief is that a race win isn’t too far away for the 23-year-old.
McLaren’s improvements key to Oscar Piastri’s growth
After a slow start to 2023, McLaren’s developments midway into the campaign turned them into a top team. Stella and Co. made sure that the Woking-based team ended 2023 as the second-fastest team on the grid. Fast forward to 2024 and McLaren is competing for race wins with Red Bull and Ferrari.
One team. Pushing together.#Senna30 pic.twitter.com/uyascQEVHa
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) May 31, 2024
Piastri’s strong pace and close competition between the top three teams set the Australian driver up for a race win in 2024. He could follow in the footsteps of Norris who already won a race this year (Miami).
McLaren is already gearing up for a three-way battle with Ferrari and Red Bull for the Constructors’ Championship this season. As a result, Piastri finishing at the front with Norris will do wonders for the British outfit’s chances of ending the year on top.
