Stella praises this telling world champion trait in 'faster' Piastri

20:55, 17 May

byNorberto Mujica

Andrea Stella, McLaren's team principal, has weighed in on the areas he believes championship leader Oscar Piastri has improved on, praising his 'cold-bloodedness' as a crucial factor to get pole at Imola.

In 2024 Piastri's qualifying was actually one of his weak points. Turn to 2025 and the Australian driver has the most poles this season with three. Stella, speaking to media like GPblog delves into where he believes his driver has taken a step forward.

'Piastri is just a faster driver'

"I think with Oscar there's a few characteristics that, some of them he possesses naturally, some of them he kept developing through his career and even recently."

"I think the main step that Oscar has made even compared to last season is just the sheer speed. He's a faster driver. This doesn't mean, like I said before, that he wouldn't have situations like qualifying in Miami in which he goes off the rhythm."

In Miami, after topping Q2, Piastri's Q3 efforts were only enough to claim P4 for the race the following day. "But he looked at what could be changed and adapted from that situation. And I think there were, even from a run plan point of view, some changes that we implemented for this qualifying in Imola, and he was able to capitalise."

Formula 1 World Championship 2025, Round 7, Emilia Romagna Grand Prix, Autodromo Enzo e Dino Ferrari, Imola, Italy, Saturday 17 May 2025 - Oscar Piastri (AUS) McLaren MCL39.

'Piastri has unique to world champions' trait'

"I think even his capability to work with his engineers and see all the possible opportunities, and one point I would like to praise today is that he demonstrated once again that his blood is quite cold," added Stella. This is a trait that has often been attributed to the great champions and drivers F1's seen.

"When he was in the last two corners and after what seemed to be a very competitive lap in the final run in Q3, and he had four or five cars to overtake, this could have been a massive distraction."

"Even if a car gives you the space, you are not going to be able to see exactly where the apex is," added the Italian stressing the complexity of the situation.

"He did such an excellent job of just staying calm, keeping the car on the racing line, trying not to lose too much time, and ultimately deliver a pole position lap."