McLaren boss Andrea Stella has declared that Oscar Piastri‘s prosperous Dutch Grand Prix weekend showcased the improvement he has made in Formula 1 in 2025.
Piastri moved another stride closer to securing a maiden F1 Drivers’ title at Zandvoort as his seventh win this season coincided with team-mate Lando Norris retiring.
Norris was pursuing Piastri with eight laps remaining when a technical gremlin curtailed his race to leave him 34 points behind his team-mate with nine rounds to go.
Having navigated three restart periods and light drizzle to maintain more than a one-second cushion throughout, Piastri had been on course to beat Norris regardless.
The Australian had trailed his sole championship rival during all three practice sessions, but he turned the tables on Norris when it counted to pip him to pole position.
Piastri had struggled at the same venue 12 months ago in a dominant McLaren, ending up outside the podium places and 27 seconds behind the race-winning Norris.
Stella believes Piastri’s exploits to enhance his points advantage was a testament to the well-rounded driver he has developed into in his third campaign in the series.
“I would say that Oscar’s weekend has been a characteristic weekend for Oscar, because we have seen the characteristic of building up through the weekend in practice, cashing in the learning,” Stella told media including Motorsport Week.
“We have seen the delivery at the moment that counts, which is qualifying and then we have seen that when it comes to the rain, he is characteristically quite comfortable, keeps the situations under control, pretty sharp in execution and while he does so, he remains always calm and lucid.
“So I think this is one of the, let me say, Oscar-like weekends. He proves his maturity and the level of his racecraft as a Formula 1 driver.”
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