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Oscar Piastri's race engineer at McLaren, Tom Stallard, recently spoke about how important it is for a race engineer to build a strong off-track connection with the driver.
Stallard has been working with Piastri for a year now. The Australian youngster joined F1 in 2023 and surprised the entire F1 world with his impressive performances, particularly after McLaren brought major upgrades and improved their car. The 22-year-old Aussie finished P9 in the drivers' standings, amassing 97 points.
McLaren's race engineer told BBC that he truly believes in building an off-track social relationship. He stated how he built a good bond with Piastri by going out for meals and simply having coffee with him at the factory.
"I am a big believer in the importance of building that social connection. You don't necessarily have to go out - just hang out together, ask questions and tell stories. With Oscar, we developed that relationship by spending time together - a couple of times out for meals and stuff, but a lot of it just at the factory having coffees - and talking through racing situations from early in our careers," Stallard said.
Stallard has worked with many F1 drivers at McLaren, such as Jenson Button, Stoffel Vandoorne, Carlos Sainz, Daniel Ricciardo, and Piastri. Hence, it is safe to say that the 45-year-old Brit has a lot of experience under his belt.
Oscar Piastri shares his views on how McLaren fares against Mercedes in the pecking order
Oscar Piastri feels McLaren and Mercedes are tightly matched in terms of performance. Speaking recently to the media, including Sportskeeda, the Australian explained that both teams have their own strengths and weaknesses.
The Australian added that his team needs to work hard and try to catch the top two teams, Red Bull and Ferrari.
“I think it's very, very even. I think we have different strengths and weaknesses for sure and I think qualifying made the difference. I think Lewis showed that if we qualify behind them there was a good chance we were going to be stuck behind them for the whole night. So I think it's very, very tight between us. And yeah, we need to do some work to try and jump them and catch the two teams ahead,” Oscar said.
After the 2024 F1 Australian GP, McLaren is currently sitting in third place in the constructors' championship table with 55 points, while Mercedes is in fourth with 26 points.
