(Motorsports news) McLaren has now committed to extending his contract by two years till the end of 2026, indicating that he sees a bright future for the young Australian, Oscar Piastri. But it’s not simply his raw speed that has impressed team management during his early stint at Woking; there are features of his personality that have reminded them of some of F1’s greats.
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella said at Suzuka on Thursday that Piastri was showing flashes of both Fernando Alonso and Michael Schumacher’s personalities. “When McLaren was so determined to sign Oscar, we looked at the results in the junior categories, and in the early days of working together, we could see what he achieved, and there were good reasons for that to happen,” Stella added.
“We could see these in the natural speed, which is related to talent, if you will.” We even witnessed it on the simulator’s first day. “Piastri was assessing his own performance, saying, ‘This is where I am, this is where I need to improve.'” It matched so perfectly with what we saw in the data that it was extremely impressive.” Stella believes that a strong grasp of Piastri’s own performance is a valuable instrument for him.
“These qualities have to do with being able to continuously improve,” Stella explained. “I’m sure there were many talented people, but it didn’t lead anywhere because there was no attitude of continuous improvement. I think we have really good examples now on the grid of drivers who can stay extremely competitive at ages we didn’t think would be obvious, because of a desire to constantly improve.” So, in that way, I believe this one is similar to Fernando.”
Stella is impressed not only by Piastri’s ability to empower himself, but also by the way he interacts with staff. “We have a person behind the driver,” he explained. “It was important for us to ensure that the person we kept on board not only fits our culture, but will help to establish the culture even more.” And possibly contributing to the culture, attitudes, and behaviors that make us a team of mates. “In this sense, the values he brings to the team’s collaboration remind me of Michael Schumacher.
Someone who worked with Michael here in the paddock and is now on another team told me that he was so capable of building families.” “While it was definitely difficult on the track, there was no shortage of a sense of family within the team, the spirit, the sense of unity.” So, I believe I’m talking about natural talent, attitude, culture, and values. These three aspects became clear to us quite quickly.”
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