F1 | McLaren team principal reminds fans that even Michael Schumacher made similar mistakes. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella defended Oscar Piastri after a difficult Azerbaijan GP.

Stella defends Piastri: “Even Schumacher made similar mistakes”

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella chose not to criticize Oscar Piastri following a disastrous weekend in Azerbaijan, reminding fans that even the greatest champions have experienced similar errors.

Nightmare weekend for Piastri

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend proved disastrous for championship leader Oscar Piastri, both in qualifying and the race. In the hunt for pole position, the Australian collided with the barriers, relegating him to ninth on the grid—a mistake very similar to one Charles Leclerc made earlier in Q3. During the race, after a slow start just before the green lights, Piastri again hit the barriers on the first lap, ending any hope of a comeback.

Mistakes happen even to the best

With Lando Norris finishing seventh, McLaren could not secure the Constructors’ Championship mathematically. However, Andrea Stella defended his driver. Speaking after the race on the Baku street circuit, the Italian engineer refrained from criticizing Piastri, recalling that similar errors had occurred even with legendary F1 drivers he had worked with at Ferrari. Stella stated: “I have worked with multiple world champions, and in every season, even the most dominant, I have seen events like this—even with one of the greatest drivers in F1 history, Michael Schumacher. These are moments where the most you can gain from the weekend is learning, because things become unexpectedly difficult, and as soon as you misjudge the available grip, you are punished severely. It was an isolated weekend where things didn’t go as he wanted, and ultimately he suffered a loss to review. This is neither surprising nor exceptional, so we should not worry, because this happens to nearly all champions, even the ones with the best results.”

Pit stop issues

Stella also highlighted the importance of pit stops, noting that Norris lost time during a tire change, similar to what happened in Monza. He explained: “The pit stop itself didn’t make a difference because we would have still finished around Leclerc’s position. For me, the key takeaway is that the car wasn’t fast enough. With a slightly faster car, we could have overtaken and then used the clear air to exploit the car’s full potential. We still need to assess whether, with a faster pit stop, we could have passed a Ferrari. We eventually managed to overtake and regain the position, which was positive for points and Lando’s championship, but in terms of pit stops, this is an area we have already focused on. We must continue to work because there is significant room for improvement through pit stops. We’ve seen races becoming increasingly tight, so the impact of a pit stop is now more important than ever.”