Piastri's Result At Suzuka Impressed His Team Principal: 'I Can See Why He Was So Successful'

Sunday, 24 December 2023 at 17:00

Oscar Piastri's performance during the Japanese Grand Prix weekend made an impression on his team principal, Andrea Stella.

McLaren rookie driver Oscar Piastri recorded two podiums during his first season in F1. The first of these was the third-place finish at Suzuka Circuit during the Japanese Grand Prix.

The 22-year-old out-qualified his teammate Lando Norris that weekend to start the race from P2, and his team principal, Andrea Stella, was amazed by the result. According to motorsport.com, he said:

"On a track like Suzuka he put it in P2 on the grid, we really need to reflect for a second on the extent of this result."

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Suzuka is one of the most technical tracks on the calendar. It is quite narrow and features high-speed corners with grass or gravel right outside of track limits, which means there is no space for driver errors.

"A track like Suzuka – not only is it high-speed, but it’s a very narrow track, it’s a very unforgiving track as soon as you go too wide because you have the gravel in some places."

Piastri could not match his experienced teammate on tracks he hadn't been to (of which there were eight in the calendar) because he lacked experience. However, he was familiar with Suzuka from the F2 series, and he showed it. Stella saw significant progress in many areas:

"In terms of speed, in terms of capacity to learn very rapidly, in terms of collaborating with his engineers and extracting the information that he needs to grow so rapidly, in terms of his own awareness of where he is in the various stages to go from: ‘I know nothing about this track, first time in a Formula 1 car' to being P2 on the grid."

Multiple people recognized the Australian's strengths as he was awarded the Rookie of the Year Award during the FIA Gala.

During the 22 races of the season, Piastri became famous for being totally calm in all situations and not showing any signs of stress or anger that could harm his performance. Stella added:

"And also the way he keeps himself calm, controlled – therefore always capitalising on his potential because he doesn’t create any unnecessary stress - that’s quite exceptional. And I can see why he was so successful in junior categories."