Stella not worried about Piastri: 'He knows what he's good at'

Despite only clocking eighteenth time in qualifying for the Bahrain Grand Prix, McLaren is still very pleased with Oscar Piastri's results. McLaren team boss Andrea Stella tells The Race that given the circumstances, he is very happy with what Piastri has shown.

In a particularly exciting qualifying session, Piastri eventually failed to get through Q1. The field was incredibly close: only 1.2 seconds separated the fastest time from the slowest. Piastri was in nineteenth place, although he eventually moved up a place because Pierre Gasly's time was withdrawn: the Frenchman had exceeded the track limits.

Not quite the ideal debut for Piastri, who is widely seen as a great up-and-coming talent. At McLaren, however, they are not worried about anything. Team boss Stella called Piastri "impressive".

"He had a moment in turn two, that's where he lost two or three tenths," Stella explained. "But apart from that he was not far away from Lando, which is obviously a very good benchmark in Formula 1."

'He knows what he can do'

It is not just Piastri's times that impress Stella; Stella also believes the driver's attitude is just the right one.

"I am very impressed by his speed, but also by his approach. He really takes it one step at a time, always stays calm. He is very aware of his strengths and weaknesses as a rookie. It's just a pity that that doesn't translate to the results. But I really think Oscar has done very well so far."