McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella, praised Oscar Piastri’s development as a driver after his successful weekend at the F1 Dutch GP. Piastri made his mark around the demanding Zandvoort circuit as he becomes the first McLaren driver since Mika Häkkinen in 1998 to grab a Grand Slam. A Grand Slam consists of pole position, the fastest lap, victory, and leading every lap of the race.
Oscar Piastri leaves the Dutch GP with 309 points. He is a notable 34 points ahead of his teammate in second as the Aussie remains the championship leader. Before his dominant win at Zandvoort, the gap between the two teammates was immensely narrow, with only 9 points separating him from Lando Norris. After the Brit suffered a mechanical failure resulting in a retirement from the Grand Prix, the Australian’s lead extends in a big way.
Stella: “A characteristic weekend for Oscar”
Stella was asked how he rates Piastri’s race and his performance especially with the safety car restart neutralizing the race more. The Team Principal went on to praise the Australian’s performance through the whole weekend.
After lacking a tenth or two against Norris through practice, he turned it around by Q3 to take pole by 0.012s.
“I would say that Oscar’s weekend has been a characteristic weekend for Oscar, because we have seen the characteristics of building up through the weekend in practice, cashing in the learning. We have seen the delivery at the moment that counts, which is qualifying, and then we have seen that when it comes to rain, he is characteristically quite comfortable, keeps the situations under control, pretty sharp in execution and while he does so, he remains always calm and lucid. This is one of the, let me say, Oscar-like-weekends. He proves his maturity and the level of his racecraft as a Formula 1 driver.“
Calm approach leads to Dutch GP glory
Piastri quickly became known for his immense talent and his calm approach behind the wheel. As Stella mentioned, the championship leader continues to develop and perfect his racecraft. When looking at some of Piastri’s more difficult tracks last year, this season illustrates his improvements at those same tracks.
One of his most impressive traits appears to be the quickness with which he takes constructive criticism during a race weekend, his ability to assess his previous mistakes, and manages to correct them before the weekend ends.
The Australian was a step behind Norris early on in the weekend. As the Brit topped all three practice sessions and looked to have an edge over him. However, once qualifying came, Piastri was ready to put up a fight. After coming out on top in qualifying, his faultless drive during Sunday’s race secured him the victory and the first Grand Slam of his F1 career.
