Andrea Stella hails Oscar Piastri for bouncing back in Suzuka after tough start to Formula 1 season

Piastri crashed on his way to the grid in Melbourne due to what appeared to be an issue with his car's power unit delivering a sudden surge of power.

In Shanghai, neither Piastri nor Lando Norris managed to start the race, as their McLarens suffered from technical issues ruling them out of the race.

But then in Japan, Piastri finally managed to have a clean weekend—Norris not so much. The Australian qualified third behind Mercedes drivers Kimi Antonelli and George Russell.

In the race, Piastri managed to put himself in contention for the win but got unlucky with the Safety Car timing, which meant he and McLaren left Suzuka with a sense of what if...

However, McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has praised his driver for managing to pick himself up following a tough start to his 2026 season.

Stella said: "Despite Oscar not having started the two main races at the start of the season, based on what we have seen in testing, in practice, in qualifying, based on his overall attitude and mental state, I think we are seeing the best version of Oscar—the strongest Oscar since he has been in Formula 1.

"Finally, he had an opportunity [in Japan] to demonstrate it, and he has done it at his full extent," the Italian added. "Having gone through two races, especially in the home race, where you are not in condition to start, for a situation that was completely avoidable, it can really bog you down.

"But if anything, I think we have seen his steadiness, his strength, and a strength that has been able to be passed on to the team."

Stella pointed out the effect the drivers have on the team who still need to work hard to deliver a competitive car for their drivers.

He explained: "The team gets a lot of inspiration from the charismatic leadership that the drivers can offer. That has been definitely a boost for the entire team.

"Well done to Oscar for the way he has been facing this start of the season. Now it is the responsibility of McLaren and the team to offer Lando and Oscar, once again, a car that can compete for victories. I think we surprised ourselves, honestly, that we were in a condition to win.

"If we want to be in this condition in the future consistently, we will have to improve the chassis by a few tenths of a second. That is the aim that we have in relation to bringing upgrades to the coming races," Stella concluded. (Reporting by Agnes Carlier)