Stella Not Worried About Piastri Potentially Winning Sooner Than Norris

Saturday, 20 January 2024 at 01:00

Andrea Stella asserted he isn't worried about Oscar Piastri getting his first Grand Prix win sooner than Lando Norris.

Lando Norris has been with the McLaren F1 team for five seasons, throughout which he achieved 13 podiums. However, the 24-year-old is still waiting for his first race win.

Last year, he was joined by a new teammate, Oscar Piastri. While Norris outperformed his rookie teammate most of the time, the Australian was able to beat him to the first race win.

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Although it was "only" a Sprint Race win and not the Grand Prix, Martin Brundle suggested the 24-year-old driver had to be "mortally wounded" after that. Asked about possible headaches if Piastri was able to snatch the first win sooner than his teammate, Stella told the media:

"About Oscar getting his first victory, and you talked about a headache, my reaction was 'A headache?' Wow! I look forward to it. It will be an incredible result considering what we saw last year with Red Bull when there wasn't really much space left for anybody else."

The most important battle for every single driver in F1 is the one against his teammate. Each victory counts and might have an impact. Nonetheless, Stella isn't worried about any bad impact. Moreover, he believes it would generate a positive emotion in the entire team.

"So if we have a victory from Oscar, that will be an incredible emotion, and an incredible emotion for Lando as well because it would mean we have a car that can win races."

Norris stated his first win is coming next season with McLaren. But how would he feel if Piastri beat him to the goal during his second season in F1? The team principal asserted it would only serve as a motivating factor.

"And if I project myself for a second into Lando's head, I think I would recognize how fair a competitor he (Piastri) is. He is a very fair person. And he would ask himself, 'What do I need to do better to do the same as Oscar has been able to do?'"