Andrea Stella hailed Oscar Piastri’s Sprint pole lap at Spa-Francorchamps as “pretty amazing,” crediting both driver execution and a round of McLaren upgrades that arrived just in time for the Belgian Grand Prix.
“Certainly that was a pretty amazing lap by Oscar,” McLaren team principal Stella told Sky Sports F1. “He capitalised on everything that was available in the car. He took a decent step going from the medium to the soft.
"An almost perfect session from Oscar apart from the lap deletion in SQ2 which gave us a bit of a moment on the pit wall, but he fixed it with the second lap and deserved pole position for the Sprint," said Stella.
The McLaren boss confirmed the team brought a new floor and rear wing to Spa and praised the team’s development push: “We never stop in this business. If you do, you move backwards. The car has definitely improved and things are going as expected, which we need.”
Despite topping Sprint Qualifying by four tenths, Piastri is cautious heading into Saturday’s race given the long straights at Spa and Red Bull’s drag efficiency.
Piastri: Spa is Probably the Worst Track to Have Pole At
“Red Bull are quick in a straight line. That will make life difficult and Spa is probably the worst track to have pole at,” said the McLaren driver. “I think the pace in the car is really strong and I felt good today, so hopefully we can have a good day tomorrow.”
Reflecting on his own performance, Piastri added: “It was a good lap. A little scare in SQ2 with the lap deletion but the car has been mega all day. I feel like I was able to put in a lot of good laps. Thanks to the team, the car has been great.”
The Australian leads the championship but admitted results haven’t always followed pace: “The car has been in a good window since Lap 1. I don’t know why. I had good confidence. I feel like the last few weekends have been good from a pace perspective but not a results’ perspective. It's nice to get a result today.”
Piastri, who has long called Spa his favourite circuit, said simply: “When the car is handling as well as it was today, it’s a pleasure.”
Teammate Lando Norris was lacking three tenths of a second when it mattered and ended the session P3 on the timing screens, and will line up behind his pole winning teammate for the start of Satruday's Belgian Grand Prix Sprint Race.
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