The head of McLaren Formula 1, Andrea Stella, strongly believes that Oscar Piastri’s challenges during the United States Grand Prix were mainly due to the specific characteristics of the track, as the championship contender looks forward to a comeback in Mexico.
Piastri experienced a difficult weekend at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, feeling uneasy with his car’s performance throughout the event. His situation was further complicated by his early exit from Saturday’s sprint race, which deprived the Australian of a crucial 19-lap opportunity for learning and adjustment.
This isn’t Piastri’s only setback since the summer interval, as he also faced a problematic weekend in Baku, marked by a pair of accidents. Coupled with the renewed strength of Red Bull, the points McLaren has conceded have enabled Max Verstappen to enter the title conversation, now trailing Piastri by just 40 points and Lando Norris, who is in second place, by 26 points.
However, McLaren’s team leader, Andrea Stella, is confident that Piastri doesn’t have to deal with any underlying problems to maintain his pursuit of the championship.
“I believe there are two factors at play. It’s clear that when we examine the past four races – involving drivers and the team – there are areas where we could have performed better,” Stella mentioned. “There’s more that we could have achieved. And this applies not only to Oscar but also to Lando, Andrea, and the entire team. We could have all improved slightly.”
“Simultaneously, tracks like Austin are quite unique, offering very little grip and where the tires don’t experience graining. This allows for tire wear while still maintaining performance.”
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Steven Tee / LAT Images via Getty Images
“And I think this is a regime in which Oscar… he’s relatively new as a Formula 1 participant. And certainly, his strength is that as soon as he identifies an area for improvement, he progresses incredibly quickly.”
After reviewing the data from COTA, Stella believes that Piastri will be much better prepared the next time he faces a similar situation, so the Italian is not concerned about a recurrence.
“The circumstances at Austin made him realize that he could have approached the driving in a slightly different way,” he explained. “He understood this, and he will apply it the next time we encounter the same conditions.”
“This is all part of a driver’s development, which explains why, despite his youth, he is currently at the top of the championship standings. He comprehends, analyzes, and learns.”
Piastri also had a quiet Friday practice in Mexico, finishing the day in 12th place on the time charts and appearing slightly behind Norris in terms of long-run pace.
Over a single lap, Piastri seemed to have some difficulties with braking into Turns 1 and 4 compared to Norris, but he remained relatively calm about his modest start.
Oscar Piastri, McLaren
Photo by: Zak Mauger / LAT Images via Getty Images
“It was acceptable,” he mentioned. “The lap on soft tires with low fuel was fairly average, so I’m not taken aback by the lap time. However, I did experiment with various approaches.”
“We’ll analyze and determine what was effective and what wasn’t, but overall, I felt reasonably comfortable. Let’s see what adjustments we can make for tomorrow. The primary objective is to achieve greater consistency.”
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– The Autosport.com Team
