Piastri's 'Exceptional' First Season Beyond McLaren's Expectations

Saturday, 02 December 2023 at 16:00

McLaren team principal Andre Stella reflected on the rookie season of McLaren's new driver, 22-year-old Oscar Piastri.

Oscar Piastri has had a rookie season, which many drivers on the grid can only dream about. The McLaren driver achieved two Grand Prix podiums, one win in the Qatar Sprint race, and finished ninth in the Drivers' Championship.

In total, Piastri amassed 97 points, only falling a few points short of breaking the 17-year-old record set by Lewis Hamilton for most points collected in a rookie season. As quoted by Motorsport.com, Andrea Stella said:

"Our analysis is that Oscar's season has just been exceptional, and when I say exceptional, I mean beyond our expectations."

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It proves to be challenging for many rookies to handle the speed and physics of Formula One cars, as shown by Nyck De Vries, who could not perform and was replaced in AlphaTauri in the middle of the season.

On the other hand, Piastri took the challenge and handled it very well multiple times, performing on the same level as his much more experienced teammate, Lando Norris. Stella continued:

"It's the rapidity with which he learns that I think makes him exceptional. And this has been true in whatever scale you take, within the timeframe of a race, within the timeframe of an event, within the timeframe of the season."

Stella said his great performances now set greater expectations for the next season. On the other hand, the team principal believes Piastri will deliver.

"His gradient is so impressive, which obviously creates expectation for next season. And expectations require work to be confirmed. But the other good thing with Oscar is that he's such a grounded person, he's so committed."

McLaren was so happy with Piastri's first season that the team decided to prolong his contract until the end of the season 2026.