McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has praised driver Oscar Piastri and his more mature approach after his first season in Formula 1.
Oscar Piastri has some very high expectations to deal with in 2024 after having the most successful rookie campaign in F1 since Lewis Hamilton.
Speaking to Motorsport.com ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix, Stella was admiring what he’d noticed Piastri already doing differently in 2024.
Stella praises ‘more mature’ Piastri
There’s an awful lot of excitement surrounding Formula 2 this year, with plenty of drivers hoping to make the step up to F1 for 2025.
Plenty of people are talking about Andrea Kimi Antonelli and Ollie Bearman after back-to-back champions failed to secure a place on the grid.
The last man to achieve that feat was Oscar Piastri and he showed why McLaren poached him from Alpine before he’d even driven in Formula 1.
Although Lando Norris outscored him in the Drivers’ Championship, his Sprint Race win and podiums at Silverstone and Suzuka highlighted his immense potential.
Andrea Stella has been speaking up about Piastri and admitted he already seems more mature behind the scenes.
He’s been speaking ahead of the Bahrain Grand Prix and has already taken steps to lower expectations ahead of a race where McLaren have a poor record.
Damon Hill is also slightly concerned about what he’s heard about the 22-year-old’s displays in testing this year, although that’s down to the car rather than anything the Australian has done.
Piastri’s performances in the new McLaren already clicking
Speaking about the Australian, Stella said: “Day one already, while he was doing some continuous laps, he made a click in terms of performance.
“And then from that point onwards, he kind of took these improvements into the next run.
“So this happens much, much quicker. That’s the main thing that was apparent to me. And also, I would say, this awareness that I referred to from a driving point of view, I can see also in his interaction with the engineers, and with the rest of the team.
“So, a much more mature driver.”
Piastri has plenty of time to mature further given his age and relative lack of experience in F1, but he’s already really impressing Stella.
He’s only heading to two new tracks this year – Shanghai and Imola – and that will immediately help him get up to speed quicker.
His speed is undeniable and he already appears to be one of the more consistent drivers on the grid.
If he can sort out his race pace then the sky’s the limit for the Australian.
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