{"id":577553,"date":"2026-04-01T02:09:15","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T02:09:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/577553\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T02:09:15","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T02:09:15","slug":"f1-news-mclaren-team-principal-andrea-stella-comments-on-oscar-piastri-performance-at-japanese-grand-prix","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/577553\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 news: McLaren team principal Andrea Stella comments on Oscar Piastri performance at Japanese Grand Prix"},"content":{"rendered":"

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\"\u2018Strongest
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tOscar Piastri during the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. Image: Batchelor \/ XPB Images<\/p>\n

Piastri\u2019s second-place finish in the Japanese Grand Prix marked a turning point after a bruising start to the season, having failed to start the opening two races.<\/p>\n

Having arrived at Suzuka without a single grand prix lap completed this year, Piastri immediately impressed by qualifying third and then surging into the lead at the start, controlling much of the opening stint.<\/p>\n

He ultimately finished second after a Safety Car swung the advantage towards eventual race winner Kimi Antonelli.<\/p>\n

The McLaren team principal said the circumstances surrounding Piastri\u2019s difficult opening rounds made the Suzuka performance even more significant, particularly given the disappointment of missing his home race.<\/p>\n

\u201cDespite Oscar not having started the two main races at the start of the 2026 season, based on what we have seen in testing, in practice, in qualifying, based on his overall attitude and mental strength, I think we have seen the best version of Oscar, the strongest Oscar since he\u2019s been in Formula 1,\u201d Stella said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think, finally, he has had an opportunity to demonstrate it, and he has done it in his own extent.<\/p>\n

\u201cHaving gone through two races, especially in the home race, where you are not in a condition to start, for a situation that was completely avoidable, can really bog you down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Instead, Stella pointed to the way Piastri absorbed those setbacks as evidence of his growth, echoing comments made prior to the weekend<\/a> about the 24-year-old\u2019s resilience and influence within the team.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf anything, I think we\u2019ve seen his steadiness, his strength \u2014 and a strength that has been able to be passed on to the team,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe team gets a lot of inspiration from the charismatic leadership that the drivers can offer. That\u2019s been definitely a boost for the entire team to go through the adversity.\u201d<\/p>\n

Piastri himself described the Suzuka weekend as one of the most complete of his career<\/a>, underlining the execution that allowed McLaren to fight at the front despite not having the fastest package.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think this weekend was probably one of my best weekends in F1,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn the race there wasn\u2019t anything more we could have done. We got a good start. The pace was good.<\/p>\n

\u201cI felt like I was strategic or smart with how I used the boost and how I managed that side of racing.\u201d<\/p>\n

While the result provided a much-needed boost for McLaren after its early-season struggles, Stella made clear the responsibility now shifts to the team to match Piastri\u2019s level with a more competitive car.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo really well done to Oscar for the way he\u2019s been facing this start of the season, and now it\u2019s a responsibility of McLaren and the team to offer Lando [Norris] and Oscar, once again, a car that can compete for victories,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Despite the podium, McLaren remains off the pace of Mercedes, with the scale of the deficit laid bare in the closing stages at Suzuka, where Antonelli crossed the line 13.7 seconds clear of the Australian.<\/p>\n

Stella admitted further gains are required if the team is to consistently contend at the front.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think if we want to be in this condition in the future consistently, we will have to improve the chassis by a few tenths of a second,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd that\u2019s the aim that we have in relation to bringing upgrades to the coming races.\u201d<\/p>\n

McLaren sit third in the constructors\u2019 championship, 89 points behind championship leaders Mercedes.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Oscar Piastri during the Formula 1 Japanese Grand Prix. Image: Batchelor \/ XPB Images Piastri\u2019s second-place finish in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":577554,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[573],"tags":[13273,64,63,817,813,816,913,2333,7499,85],"class_list":["post-577553","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-formula-1","tag-andrea-stella","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-f1","tag-formula-1","tag-formula1","tag-mclaren","tag-oscar-piastri","tag-slot4","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577553","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=577553"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/577553\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/577554"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=577553"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=577553"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=577553"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}