Oscar Piastri has appeared to be struggling so far this weekend at the Circuit of the Americas. McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella shed light on what is happening with the young Australian driver in Austin. The championship contender has not shown the same level of speed that has characterized his season so far. His teammate Lando Norris seems to have a clear performance advantage at this event.
Andrea Stella tried to clarify what lies behind Oscar Piastri’s apparent difficulties on the Texan track. Up to this point in the weekend, the Australian talent has never been in the fight for top positions, remaining effectively out of contention except for his third-place finish in the Sprint Qualifying session.
Of course, the contact at the start of the Sprint with Lando Norris had an impact, but the problems go beyond that incident. In recent races, Oscar Piastri has seemed less effective and less sharp than usual. This could easily be attributed to the growing pressure linked to his fight for the Formula 1 World Championship title.
Lack of confidence behind the wheel
The Circuit of the Americas has so far been a real puzzle for car number 81. In every session, the gap to Lando Norris has been significant, and even his grid position does not favour the McLaren driver. “Oscar has always been a couple of tenths behind Lando,” explained the McLaren Team Principal to the media. “We’re used to seeing him improve over the course of the weekend. If there’s one thing that’s been missing, I would say it’s that.”
According to Andrea Stella, however, Oscar Piastri’s difficulties in Austin are also linked to a car that has not been entirely easy to handle. “It has been a rather chaotic event with the lost Sprint session,” the former Ferrari team member noted. “For Oscar, it was important to regain some confidence, pushing the car when there’s low grip, bumps, hot temperatures, and also strong wind.”
“If you drive too cautiously because you can’t manage a gust of wind, or you simply want to take a careful approach, you won’t be able to set a competitive lap time,” added the Italian engineer. “You need to push to the limit, and to do that, you must have rhythm and confidence.”
In conclusion, Oscar Piastri’s lack of confidence is preventing him from pushing his McLaren MCL39 to the limit. The issue lies in the fact that, as Lando Norris pointed out, the car actually requires an aggressive, less cautious driving style to perform well on this track. Therefore, Piastri now faces the challenge of finding a way to fully master the car ahead of Sunday’s race, where he will start from sixth on the grid.
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