Andrea Stella praises "outstanding" Oscar Piastri at Silverstone

Both of their drivers qualified in the top 3 at Silverstone, with Lando Norris leading the race in the opening laps of Sunday's race before eventually finishing on the podium. Oscar Piastri enjoyed his first weekend with the latest upgrades fitted to his car, putting on an incredible show to finish P4 in his best Formula 1 result to date. 

The Australian rookie wasn’t far at all off his more experienced teammate in Norris, with Team Principal Andrea Stella noting how beneficial he could be to the team going forward: “First of all, Oscar’s performance is just outstanding. If you think he is a rookie and right away, even in practice, he was immediately quick and in some corners a good reference for Lando himself.”

“So not only are we impressed, but there is a net benefit in having two competitive drivers.”

Piastri was unfortunate not to stand beside his teammate for what would've been his first podium in F1, after pitting just before the safety car was brought out on lap 34. When asked whether he could’ve stayed out longer and therefore benefited from the safety car, Stella responded: “At that stage we were starting to lose a little bit the tyres, so that was a concrete risk that we could lose the position.”

“It was late enough in the race to pit safely, and while you always want to think about if there is a safety car, it is not like you compromise your strategy because there can be a safety car.”

Stella admitted he was taken by surprise at the outcome of the Grand Prix, while acknowledging their genuine pace on show: “We were surprised ourselves in the first stint that we were able to keep our competitors, Ferrari and Mercedes, behind.”

“We thought they would be a problem for us in terms of pace, so I think we have to acknowledge that the improvement seems to be genuine, even in terms of race pace.”

With their new upgrades on show that have seemingly fast forwarded them to near the front of the pack, the McLaren reigned supreme through the high-speed corners, a huge benefit when racing through the likes of Maggots and Becketts at Silverstone. This was also evident a week earlier in Austria, where Norris finished P4.

Many drivers including Mercedes’ George Russell were impressed by McLaren’s fast flowing performance, to which Stella kept level-headed over when asked about their comments: “As I keep reminding, we are in a circuit with high-speed corners, so again it gives a bit of a premium, this track.”

“When it comes to whether this improvement will manifest itself in the future, even if George says that the tracks are different, actually there are significant elements of commonality between Austria and Silverstone, especially with the high density of corners in which we know our car performs well.”