Stella: Piastri makes things look simple

The rookie driver has been solid since the start of the 2023 F1 season, keeping in touch with his highly rated teammate, Lando Norris, but one McLaren gave him the upgraded MCL60 for Silverstone, Piastri found an extra gear, qualifying third and finishing fourth after an untimely Safety Car cost him a chance of a podium.

He qualified second for the Sprint Race at Spa and finished in the same place behind Max Verstappen, as he was the quickest McLaren driver over the weekend, despite his lack of experience showing in the first lap incident in the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday with Ferrari's Carlos Sainz, retiring on the spot.

Stella believes Piastri has always been good, but the upgraded car just gave him the chance to shine, he told Motorsport.com: "I think where he is at the moment is part of the gradient that we saw right from the start at testing and the first races.

"I'm not sure [Piastri's progression] has actually accelerated. I think he just took benefit from the car being more competitive, therefore there are more opportunities to show what he is capable of.

"I think this is in line with kind of what we saw at the start. It wasn't easy to get into a McLaren car. We've been here commenting about the characteristics of this car and how much it created issues for drivers and actually feels uncomfortable.

"So, this was apparent already at the start of the season to us, but less apparent outside just because the car wasn't very competitive, so I would say he's consolidating the gradient that we saw at the start," Stella maintained.

However the Italian insists the best trait Piastri is showing is his calmness evident during the Sprint in Spa; he added: "The interesting point of Oscar is that he's making all this look simple.

"He's making it look simple that in these conditions you pit, you lead the race, and you go from inters to dry [conditions] and you never kind of make a mistake or so.

"I think this is the most impressive thing that I can witness. And all this is achieved with a pretty unique approach in terms of how calm and considerate he is. And so far, indeed quite impressive," Stella concluded.