McLaren principal Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri will need to work on his racecraft to fulfil his full potential in Formula 1.
Piastri made his debut for McLaren at last week’s Bahrain Grand Prix but lasted just 13 laps before his car’s electronics shut down, forcing him into an early retirement.
It was a painful end to a difficult weekend first for the Australian debutant, who was knocked out of Q1 on Saturday night in 18th on grid ahead of only fellow rookie Nyck de Vries and the out-of-position Pierre Gasly.
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Norris was half a second quicker in the first qualifying segment and started the race from 11th, well beyond expectations for the difficult MCL60. The Briton also retired from the race after what was effectively a live test session thanks to air leak that forced him to make five pit stops.
But Piastri’s lowly qualifying position was more down to mistakes in his difficult-to-drive car rather than an outright lack of speed.
Speaking in Sakhir, team boss Stella said he had no concerns about Piastri’s raw pace, noting that his telemetry suggested he came close to matching the highly rated Norris for much of the lap despite the expected rookie scrappiness.
“We are very pleased with what we saw in qualifying,” he said, per RacingNews365. “Apart from the big oversteer he had in [turn] 2, which meant he lost basically the possibility to go into 2 in a single corner, in some other corners he was a match for Lando, which is really very encouraging.”
Instead Stella said Piastri would need to work on brushing the rust from his Sunday form to ensure he could maximise his chances when the car was reliable enough to make it to the flag.
“I think it’s the overall racecraft that we need to develop,” Stella said. “But not because there’s any lack of talent. It’s just time in the car really.”
“In terms of pure speed [on] new tyres and in the race, [his] race speed, race consistency lap after lap, was the best long run he has done.
“So [we hope he can] just carry on in all areas with the same methodical and progressive approach that he has had so far.”
‘Miserable start’ Piastri talks F1 debut | 02:03
Piastri spent a season out of the cockpit as the Alpine reserve driver last year as he scrambled for a seat on the F1 grid and has said that he expects to take some time to bring himself back up to speed after such a long break from competition.
But his sparkling junior CV featuring three successive championships, including titles on debut in Formula 3 and Formula 2, has left few with any doubt that the Melburnian has what it takes to succeed in Formula 1.
Speaking earlier this year, Stella said he expected his Australian recruit to develop into one of the sport’s top competitors.
“Oscar is new to F1 but he is proven winning material in junior categories,” he said. “He has been doing very well so far. We are very pleased,”
“The level of talent, the level of progress we have seen day by day … is very encouraging and kind of confirms that he is a strong prospect for the future.
“F1 is a very, very competitive game, so he just has to go through his own trajectory, and I’m sure the final destination will be one of the best drivers on the grid.”
Piastri was sanguine about his truncated first grand prix, saying he was pleased to get a start under his belt but noting that his return to competition had taken some adjusting to.
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“It was still nice to get back out there, do a first lap and be in a racing environment again,” he said. “I think we were having a pretty reasonable race up until [retirement].
“A shame, but it was nice to do the laps that I did anyway.
“Until that point it was feeling okay. I think at the beginning I was struggling a little bit to say with the DRS train, but I think later in the stint we were pretty good on tyres, I think better than some of the cars around us.
“I think we were getting there — also for me just being in a racing environment with the dirty air again and all that stuff, it’s been a while since I’ve had to experience that.”
Piastri will get a second chance at seeing the chequered flag at this weekend’s Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.