The hype surrounding Oscar Piastri is justified following his first season in F1, according to team boss Andrea Stella.
Piastri was named the FIA’s rookie of the year for his maiden season in motorsport’s topflight after scoring 97 points and victory in the F1 Sprint at Qatar – making him one of only three drivers to beat Max Verstappen all season.
The Australian was a high-profile arrival for McLaren courtesy of his stellar junior career and protracted tussle to secure his services.
McLaren’s efforts to secure his services have proved justified with the 22-year-old generating countless headlines for his performances throughout 2023.
“Totally, totally justified,” Stella told Speedcafe on the KTM Summer Grill when asked if the hype surrounding Piastri was justified.
“Oscar, in my view, Oscar went beyond expectations.
“We were optimistic, we certainly wanted very strong that Oscar could race for McLaren in his first season in Formula 1, but what he was able to deliver on track, and to some extent off track, was beyond expectation.
“I think we have seen a couple of points which are just outstanding,” he added.
“The first one I would like to mention is the pure speed. And it’s a pure speed that he is also not in a hurry to show when there’s no need to show it.
“So it’s an interesting behaviour. Like, in P1, there’s not necessarily a need to go to the limit, it’s the session in which you need to accrue, you need to learn the elements, the details that at some stage you will have to put together to deliver quick laps.
“It is this sense of, like, building in the elements to be quick, which then lead Oscar to put together laps like he did in Suzuka, to qualify the car P2 on the grid on one of the most challenging tracks in Formula 1.
“The Suzuka track is quite unforgiving, with high-speed corners and as a proper rookie because he never raced with a Formula 1 car ever, I think, in Suzuka.”
Throughout 2023, Piastri made something of a trademark in his approach to weekends.
As Stella indicated, the Melburnian built into each event gradually which translated into fewer mistakes and more time in the car on track.
“This pure speed but also the way he builds to create the delivery of the superior speed is quite outstanding – beyond expectation,” Stella opined.
“Certainly, you wouldn’t say this is a rookie if you didn’t know.
“I think he supports these qualities, he supports the capability to utilise the talent that he has available by just being a very cool guy; very calm, very controlled,” he added.
“It keeps himself in the most productive status which is difficult for people that are not under the pressure of a Formula 1 driver – it’s even more difficult where you are under the pressure of a Formula 1 driver!
“But still he remained in this apparent state of calmness, which I think is very important for your brain to process just what is important – don’t deal with noise in your brain, don’t deal with unnecessary dialogue in your brain, don’t create situations that you need to eolabroate.
“They use energy, capability, capacity in your brain.
“I think this is a quality that clearly Oscar, he either has as a natural gift or he kept developing through the years to his career.”
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