McLaren boss Andrea Stella has theorised why Oscar Piastri laboured to a lowly seventh place in qualifying for the Formula 1 Mexico City Grand Prix.
The title leader was a staggering near-six-tenths behind team-mate Lando Norris, who stormed to pole position at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez.
It gives the Australian plenty of work to do on race day, with a potential Norris win and failure to climb the order, leaving him potentially without his title advantage.
Piastri was himself at a loss for why he’s been unable to get anywhere near his team-mate’s times across the weekend, admitting it was “a bit of a mystery”.
But Stella has offered a reason why he perhaps struggled so much, but started by speaking of his relief that the MCL39 was displaying its usual competitiveness after a recent lull.
“I think, first of all, let me start by saying that it’s important today for the team to confirm that we can have the fastest car, after a few races in which we had some hesitations, possibly we didn’t even maximise the potential that was available in the car,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“So here we really regrouped and we tried to make sure that we could optimise, from a setup point of view, from a car specification point of view, to make it as fast as possible, and it was good to prove that it was the fastest car.
“But the fastest car is also a car that needs to be driven in a certain way, especially when you have conditions like here, and to some extent in Austin, with hot tarmac, sliding tyres, and the way in which you generate lap time is a way that, I would say, comes relatively naturally for Lando, and less naturally for Oscar”
Stella added that the different characteristics in both Norris and Piastri’s driving style were perhaps a definitive factor in how the former was able to extract more from the car.
“Lando is the driver of going on low grip, end of the stint, when the tyres are quite worn -used, the grip is low – is where we see Lando, green sector, green sector, green sector,” he said.
“Oscar, instead, more of a driver of high grip, and that’s where he can exploit his incredible talent.
“At the same time, we don’t have to forget that while we talk about the leader in the Drivers’ Championship, he’s not even finished the third season in Formula 1.
“So, experiencing situations like we have here in Austin is how you actually calibrate yourself as a driver. So Oscar, every session, is learning a little bit as to what you need to do, what you need to feel to say, ‘I’m fast now, in these specific conditions’, which conversely are more natural conditions for Lando. So, nothing to worry, I think it’s more a calibration exercise for Oscar.
“I’m sure this calibration will pay off already tomorrow in the race, and in any future event in which the regime, in which the tyre and the car interact with the tarmac, is similar to here in Mexico, like it was in Austin.”
Stella backs Piastri to bounce back
Norris has complained that the car’s balance over a single lap was a concern, but evidently turned around those anomalies with his pole run to beat the two Ferraris.
For Piastri, it was a different kettle of fish, which could perhaps leave some wondering if his car was struck by some unfounded issue, but this was ruled out by Stella.
“Every evidence, every piece of data, every indirect measurement or information we have tells us that there is no problem with the car, and we have no reason to suspect that that’s the case,” he revealed.
“Also, the change of the chassis, I know that in the history of Formula 1 there is this topic of changing the chassis, like really, I would change other components than the chassis, like the floor, the front wing.
“But in reality there is a rotation of parts, so it’s not like there is always the same parts on the car, so we have reasons to be reassured that there is no problem with the car.
“And like I said before, these are very, very unique conditions, and also once you get the familiarity with what you have to do and what you have to feel, then you start to gain in every single corner and you can cash in quite a lot of lap times, so no concern with the car, and I’m sure tomorrow Oscar will capitalise from the learning today.”
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