McLaren Team Principal Defends Piastri After Sao Paulo Grand Prix Penalty
Sao Paulo, Brazil – McLaren team principal Andrea Stella described a penalty issued to Oscar piastri during the sao Paulo Grand Prix as “definitely on the harsh side,” but affirmed the team accepts the stewards’ decision and is moving forward. The penalty hampered Piastri’s race and further extended his points deficit to teammate Lando Norris in the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship standings.
Piastri now trails Norris by 24 points with only three Grands Prix and a Sprint race remaining.The 24-year-old has not reached the podium in the last five races, and has recently struggled to match Norris’ pace, notably compared to his strong start to the season. Despite the setback, Stella was encouraged by Piastri’s performance in Brazil, specifically his pace during the second and third stints.
“Simultaneously occurring, now it’s done. So, like I reiterate, the respect that we have for the stewards, we accept it, we move on,” Stella stated. He added that Piastri demonstrated encouraging performance improvements, particularly in adapting to the low-grip conditions during the race.
Stella highlighted that Piastri experienced tire damage during the first stint,initially anticipating a longer run. Though, he noted the driver’s pace was ”quite encouraging” in the later stages. “From a pace point of view, I think the pace was quite encouraging in the second and third stint,” Stella explained. “In the first stint, Oscar was carrying some damage on the tyre that was locked and he was also kind of thinking that the stint would have been long, but in the second and the third stint, I think the performance was good.”
According to Stella, Piastri successfully implemented adaptations discussed for navigating the challenging track conditions. “Just talking right now with Oscar, some of the adaptations that we talked about in these low grip conditions, I think he was able to execute them during the race,” he said. “So, I think we take away from this event encouraging indications from a performance point of view and race pace point of view.”
