Team principal Andrea Stella has addressed the disappointing P9 finish of Oscar Piastri after McLaren managed to secure victory with Lando Norris at the chaotic rain-affected F1 Australian GP.
Despite losing a position to Max Verstappen off the line, Piastri managed to climb back to P2 on Lap 17 and keep his aspirations for a win on his home turf alive. However, when he found himself within the DRS range of Norris while lapping the backmarkers, McLaren instructed him to hold position on Lap 31.
Although the Woking-based team allowed the teammates to resume racing each other for the lead a lap later, Piastri had fallen behind by nearly three seconds after making a mistake at Turn 6. Following this incident, the Australian’s fortunes took a turn for the worse when he ran off the track and over the grass on Lap 44, thereby tumbling down the order.
Piastri ultimately recovered to finish in ninth place. Nonetheless, he now finds himself on the back foot against his victorious teammate after a promising start to the season from the front row of the grid on Sunday.
In his print media session, Stella shared his thoughts on the emotions that the team experienced in the aftermath of the race. He also revealed what characteristics of Piastri have impressed him the most so far and why he believes that the 23-year-old will deliver more satisfying results as the season progresses.
Stella calls Piastri mishap unlucky and commends his driving
While both drivers ventured off the track on lap 44, Norris managed to salvage his momentum and stand on the top step of the podium after holding Verstappen off in the closing stages of the race.
Confessing that they were experiencing mixed emotions after failing to secure the 1-2 finish, Stella commended the McLaren duo for their impressive drives. He also remarked that Piastri was simply more unfortunate for finding himself beached on the grass and losing a minute recovering his car.
Furthermore, the Italian was effusive about not only Piastri’s driving skills but also his general awareness of the track conditions and his contributions to their decision-making process. Labelling him as a deserving contender for the victory in Melbourne, Stella added that the 23-year-old boasts the traits of one of the most “expert” drivers he has worked with in his long motorsport career.
“It’s definitely mixed feelings, because until the moment where both drivers hit this sudden rain in the last sector, Oscar [Piastri] and Lando [Norris] were both driving brilliantly. And, effectively Oscar just paid a bigger price than Lando with the going off track and then not being able to come out of the grass.
“But I think Oscar today was deserving to be in contention for the victory until the last moment and he drove exceptionally well.
“And, when I use the verb driving, that’s not only driving the car around the track, but it’s also the kind of assessment of the conditions, of the decisions that we should’ve taken.
“He was very lucid, very calm, and he’s starting his year 3 in Formula 1. But he looks like one of the most expert drivers that I’ve worked with.
“So, extremely impressed by Oscar today, just a little bit unlucky.”
Pushing the car in tricky conditions led to pace issues after holding position
With regard to Piastri struggling a bit more and whether his tyres were negatively impacted after they asked him to hold position on Lap 31, Stella elaborated that the McLaren pit wall had issued the team order to minimise the drivers’ mistakes given the tricky track conditions and the traffic they encountered.
The 54-year-old stated that he was unable to pinpoint the issue that resulted in the Australian driver struggling to maintain consistent pace during the aforementioned stage of the race. Nonetheless, Stella surmised that pushing the car too hard in those challenging conditions had led to both Norris and Piastri experiencing similar complications in terms of pace at the F1 Australian GP.
“I think in terms of retaining a consistent pace at that stage of the race, it was difficult, which is also one of the reasons why we wanted to pause the internal competition for a few laps because both drivers were making little mistakes here and there.
“Because I think as soon as you were putting the tyres on a slightly more wet portion [of the track], then you may have a sudden oversteer. You may have a little lock-up because the front left was already quite worn.
“So, I don’t know exactly what kind of issues he might have had in terms of pace in this phase of the race, but I suspect that it might have to do with these little issues that pushing at that level in those conditions, I’ve seen regularly on either of the drivers.”
More satisfying results to come for mentally strong Piastri
Given that McLaren locked out the front row in Melbourne by a hefty margin, the Italian reiterated that their impressive showing in qualifying was the outcome of their drivers learning from each other and pushing the team forward together.
Moreover, Stella commented that more podiums and victories are just around the corner for Piastri if the MCL39 maintains its position as the most competitive car on the grid after delivering strong performances throughout the race weekend at the F1 Australian GP.
“Extremely impressed throughout the weekend; first row locked in by McLaren.
“I already explained yesterday the importance of how much the drivers supported each other through the weekend by learning from each other, and I think some of the lap times we saw and the gaps we saw in qualifying are the derivation of this interaction between our two drivers.
“If the car keeps performing at this level of competitiveness, big satisfactions for Oscar are not far in time.
“I just met Oscar here for a very quick moment and I just told him that he will have many satisfactions this year because he is fast and the car seems to be fast, so today was just an unlucky race.”
Referring to his state of mind, Stella also underscored the mental strength of Piastri and revealed that he bounces back soon after experiencing an underwhelming result.
“The good thing with Oscar is that you don’t have to do much of the psychological exercise of convincing him not to get too upset with himself or with the situation because he is one of the mentally strongest drivers that I’ve ever met.
“So, I’m sure in China he will be back and very soon he will have important results.”
