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‘Senna-Like’ Demeanor Helped Oscar Piastri Skillfully Hold Charles Leclerc in Baku, Says Peter Windsor

Anirban Aly Mandal
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‘Senna-Like’ Demeanor Helped Oscar Piastri Skillfully Hold Charles Leclerc in Baku, Says Peter Windsor

Ayrton Senna & Oscar Piastri

Credits- IMAGO

Oscar Piastri had to hold off Charles Leclerc for over 30 laps in Baku to win the Azerbaijan GP on Sunday. Former Ferrari boss Peter Windsor has compared the young Australian to Ayrton Senna after his victory. Windsor explained that Piastri is resilient under pressure, much like the late great Brazilian.

The calm demeanor that Piastri portrays on and off the track is reminiscent of Senna, who won three World championships with McLaren in the late 1980s and early 1990s.

“I was watching some footage of him just walking into the track on Sunday morning,” Windsor said. “There’s something about his demeanor. He’s got this incredibly Senna-like steely look in his eyes. And it’s an amazing combination.”

Piastri started the Azerbaijan GP from P2 on the grid but overtook Leclerc with a stunning move at turn one. From there, no matter how hard the Monegasque driver tried to retake P1, Piastri held on. Without his ‘nerves of steel’, Piastri would not have been able to defend against Leclerc, Windsor insisted.

Windsor even suggested that Piastri’s mental strength and structure are so solid that he doesn’t need a sports psychologist to train him.

How Piastri beat Leclerc in a battle of wits

Windsor then compared Piastri’s mentality to Leclerc’s. He argued that the latter is a more emotional character, which means he lacks the calmness Piastri possesses.

That said, Windsor did commend the 26-year-old for constantly challenging the McLaren driver. However, this ultimately caused Leclerc to lose more tire performance with each lap he remained behind Piastri’s MCL38.

Windsor said, “The heat from the car in front, the damage to the tires [and] engine overheating – all those things are a problem. And that’s probably why he wasn’t able to manage the tires as well at Baku as he was able to at Monza.” Piastri knew this would happen and outsmarted Leclerc on this front.

Windsor also felt that Leclerc’s engineer giving him the hurry up on almost every lap did not do the Monegasque a favor, since it put him under a lot of pressure to deliver.

Post Edited By:Somin Bhattacharjee

About the author

Anirban Aly Mandal

Anirban Aly Mandal

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Anirban Aly Mandal is an F1 writer at The SportsRush, with over 1000 articles under his belt, Anirban's love for F1 started when he discovered a copy of F1 2014 on his computer. With over half a decade's worth of time spent religiously following the sport, he’s dived deep into the world of motorsports. However, Anirban's expertise goes beyond just writing - he has also written several academic papers focused on the domain of motorsports and the law. His passion for the sport is so immense that he aspires to work as a legal advisor in the most prestigious racing series in the world someday. When it comes to Formula 1, Anirban finds great pleasure in re-watching classic races and idolizes the likes of Ayrton Senna, Nigel Mansell, and Sebastian Vettel. His top picks include Brazil '91, Silverstone '92, and Germany '19. Outside of the sport, Anirban is an avid sim racer, often found racing on titles like Assetto Corsa, F1 22, and Automobilista. Apart from his interests in gaming, Anirban has a keen interest in philosophy, literature and music.

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