McLaren team boss Andrea Stella expressed his confidence that the disastrous Azerbaijan Grand Prix for Oscar Piastri was an isolated incident, pointing out that even the most outstanding drivers, such as seven-time champion Michael Schumacher, have experienced similar weekends. Piastri’s streak of 34 consecutive races with points came to an end on Sunday, when he crashed into the wall at Turn 5 during the first lap in Baku. This error followed an accident in qualifying, which left him ninth on the grid, and a false start before the lights went out, causing his car to enter anti-stall mode and fall to the back of the pack.
Stella, who worked with Schumacher at Ferrari during his most dominant period in F1, stated that disappointing weekends are inevitable, even for the best drivers. Stella added that Piastri would learn several lessons from the weekend in Azerbaijan that would only strengthen him. McLaren’s boss described Piastri’s false start as an “excess of enthusiasm” and remains convinced that his driver will recover in the remaining seven rounds. Stella emphasized that one of Piastri’s greatest strengths is his ability to learn and improve rapidly, which has led him to success in all categories. Stella believes this will be repeated in Piastri’s Formula 1 race and will be seen throughout the rest of the season.I have worked with multi-champion drivers, and in a season, every season, even the most dominant ones, even by one of the best drivers in the history of Formula 1, like Michael Schumacher, I have seen events like this.
Andrea Stella
