Piastri and Schumacher: Errors in F1, according to McLaren’s Stella

Andrea Stella Defends Oscar Piastri After a Complicated Weekend in Azerbaijan

McLaren team boss Andrea Stella has expressed his confidence that the disastrous Azerbaijan Grand Prix was an isolated incident for Oscar Piastri. Stella, recalling experiences with renowned drivers, such as Michael Schumacher, highlights that all the greats have had comparable weekends. Piastri’s streak of 34 consecutive races scoring points came to an end on Sunday, when he crashed into the wall at Turn 5 during the first lap in Baku. This error added to an accident in qualifying, which left him ninth on the grid, and a false start that caused his car to enter anti-stall mode, relegating him to the back of the pack.

I’ve worked with multi-champion drivers, and in a season, even the most dominant one, even by one of the best drivers in Formula 1 history, like Michael Schumacher, I’ve seen events like this.

Andrea Stella

Stella, who worked with Schumacher at Ferrari during his most dominant period in Formula 1, explained that disappointing weekends are inevitable, even for the best drivers. According to Stella, the most important thing Piastri can take away from this weekend is learning.

The damage to Piastri’s campaign was limited, as his teammate and championship rival, Lando Norris, could only manage seventh place in Sunday’s race, reducing the Australian’s lead in the standings to 25 points. Stella added that Piastri will learn several lessons from the weekend in Azerbaijan that will only make him stronger.

It comes out without points and with a lot of learning.

Andrea Stella

Stella described Piastri’s false start as an “excess of enthusiasm” and remains convinced that his driver will recover in the remaining seven rounds. Stella believes that one of Piastri’s greatest strengths is his ability to learn and improve quickly, which has led him to success in other categories.