McLaren boss Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri’s improved tyre management isn’t solely down to the gains the team has made in that area with its 2025 Formula 1 car.
The Australian extended his championship lead in Miami with a third consecutive win, becoming the first McLaren driver to accomplish that feat since Mika Hakkinen.
Once Lando Norris lost out to pole-sitter Max Verstappen on the first lap, Piastri showed cutthroat precision as he picked his spot and passed the Dutchman on Lap 14.
Piastri capitalised on his team-mate’s scrap with Verstappen to pull out a nine-second lead, which guaranteed that he would lead Norris over the line to take the spoils.
But while his tyre management came under scrutiny in his opening two years, Piastri appears to have mastered the art in 2025 as he bids to land a maiden Drivers’ title.
However, Stella dismissed the notion that Piastri’s improved usage of the rubber is simply a byproduct of McLaren’s MCL39 being superior to other cars in this regard.
“Looking at the way Oscar is mastering and managing tyre degradation at the moment, no way that this improvement would come simply from the car,” he told media including Motorsport Week.
“The only way to exploit the improvements we have made with the car [is] when the driver somehow understands what to do with the tyres and with the car.
“And this has happened not by chance or not because Oscar is getting a little older, this is because there’s been a lot of work done by the engineers in terms of understanding the driving style, how you damage the tyres, how you can prevent damaging the tyres.”
Stella expects future battles between McLaren pair
After the opening six rounds, 15 points separate the two McLaren drivers at the top of the Drivers’ Championship.
With a 105-point lead over Mercedes in the Constructors’ standings, Stella heaped praise on the team, highlighting the crucial work done by both engineers and drivers.
He added: “This is very different from when you have graining, when you have graining at the front, graining at the rear, overheating at the front, overheating at the rear.
“It’s not like you improve the way you master the tyres in a way that is good for all seasons.
“There’s many ways in which you need to be able to do so, and like I say, I think this is testament to the quality of the work done by Oscar and the team around him.
“When I say so, even from Lando’s point of view, I think we have seen that there’s definitely improvements, and if anything, in the final stint on the Hard tyres.”
Stella went on to state that he expects a close battle between his driver pairing for the rest of the season.
“I could see that at times Lando was, if anything, even a little faster than Oscar,” the Italian said.
“And then for Lando, there was just too much time lost in the two situations with Verstappen to have what could have been an interesting situation between our two drivers.
“But I’m sure it will come in the future races.”
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