Stella: Piastri a ‘unique talent’ and a reference for Norris

McLaren F1 boss Andrea Stella says Oscar Piastri is a “unique talent” that also serves as a useful reference for Lando Norris that will push the latter to become better.

McLaren claimed in Qatar its second double podium in a row, but contrary to Japan where Norris had preceded Piastri, it was the Aussie’s turn to lead his teammate across the finish line on Sunday.

Piastri’s strong display came a day after the rookie enjoyed his maiden win in F1, having triumphed in Saturday’s sprint event.

For the past few seasons, Norris has assumed the role of team leader at McLaren, having consistently dominated his previous teammate Daniel Ricciardo during their two years together.

Predictably, Norris also had the upper hand over Piastri in the first half of the year. But with each passing race, the Aussie’s stock trends higher, and he has become a legitimate threat to Norris’ authority at team papaya.

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But Stella sees this as a potentially constructive development for Norris and as an opportunity for the latter to take his performance to the next level.

“In terms of picking up the challenge itself with Oscar, first of all, Lando knows himself, that Oscar is a unique talent,” Stella said. “You know, you don’t see these kinds of talents in Formula 1 every day.

“So it’s an absolute reference, even if he’s a rookie and at times Lando knows that he will be, he will set the bar very high. If you are a champion like Lando is, you will have to take that from a positive point of view because it gives you so much information to keep improving.

“There’s no champion in the world in any sport that wins everything, you know, is for a driver is faster in every corner, faster in every lap, faster in every session. Maybe Max [Verstappen] this year maybe, but that’s pretty exceptional.

“So for me, Lando sees this as a bit of discomfort but it’s the discomfort you need to become the best in a way. It is a curse and blessing to be a champion.”

Norris is pretty much his own man when it comes to boosting his motivation. But conversely, the 23-year-old is also hard on himself when things to pn out as expected or in the wake of a mistake.

In Qatar, Norris repeatedly kicked himself for potentially missing out on pole due to his track limit infringements that forced him to start Sunday’s race a lowly P10.

Stella commended Norris for his honesty and his ability to recognize and own up to his errors.

“Lando is, you know, such an honest person and I think even he perpetuates dishonesty in every kind of relationship, including the one with himself,” commented the Italian.

“I think he wants to make sure that if he gets it wrong, he gets it from the holistic point of view, you know like he doesn’t want to look arrogant, he doesn’t want to look like I’m not acknowledging that I could’ve done better. So I make it very clear.”

Stella reckons that over time, Norris will fine tune his self-criticism to determine just how tough he really needs to be on himself and when.

“Lke I said before about champions, you need to find the right balance and you need to find the right dynamics in terms of communication to the world, in terms of communication to yourself, to put yourself in the position to perform today and in the position to keep improving every day,” he explained.

“So I think given how harsh he was on himself, following especially the qualifying on Friday would be an element of review. And this review will happen again, very honestly.

“And he will calibrate over time to see how tough do I really have to be with myself. Like what is the target here? To be faster in every single corner, in every single lap, in every single session, or just be the best which doesn’t imply all the rest.

“So, I mean, there’s a bit of a journey which is for Lando, it will be for Oscar and it’s for each of us in the team.”

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