McLaren boss reveals reason for Oscar Piastri’s biggest step up in 2025

McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has recently addressed the reason behind Oscar Piastri’s surge in form throughout the 2025 season. The Woking-based outfit’s chief attributed the Australian’s performance to a flurry of contributory factors.

Piastri, who joined the McLaren team following his exit from Alpine ahead of the 2023 season, has largely outperformed his teammate and championship rival Lando Norris throughout the 2025 campaign. The young Australian driver, who currently leads the Drivers’ Championship, appears well on course to head into the mid-season break at the top.

This sharp turnaround, particularly considering Lando Norris was the McLaren driver widely tipped to clinch the 2025 championship, has sparked questions about what’s driving Oscar Piastri’s stellar form. Weighing in on the possible reasons, 54-year-old Andrea Stella described the improvement as a ‘holistic’ development during a media interaction. Sharing his thoughts (via Motorsport Week), he stated:

“Well, I think the most important improvement, if anything, is that Oscar has become a faster driver. I think when you are a faster driver, you have more opportunity, more time to process, more bandwidth to process things. And this is true when you are in the car, and also when you are outside the car."

“Because the speed is there – let’s process all the other marginal gains that will then, at the end of the weekend, constitute the performance that you need to have the kind of results that he’s having at the moment. Over the winter, there’s been a very specific amount of work – he has paid attention to different areas. It’s been quite holistic,” Stella added.

Oscar Piastri himself admitted to making a switch and significantly stepping up his game during an interaction with Sky Sports F1’s Ted Kravitz before the Canadian Grand Prix weekend. The McLaren driver will now aim to continue his impressive form further in the next race, the Austrian Grand Prix, on June 29.

Oscar Piastri pinpoints the relationship with his engineer as key to his form

Oscar Piastri himself weighed in on his impeccable form throughout the 2025 campaign so far. The 24-year-old currently leads the Drivers’ Championship by 22 points ahead of Lando Norris.

Piastri, in a recent interview, detailed how the relationship with his race engineer, Tom Stallard, has played a crucial role in his strong performances. Sharing his thoughts via RacingNews365, the seven-time Grand Prix winner stated:

"Tom [Stallard] and I get on very well and we are in our third year together, so I think a lot of the unspoken things flow a bit more naturally. We are in a good place, we've done a good job, not just me and Tom, but the other engineers around me have taken a step up this year and are finding out how we can find more performance from every angle."

"That is also to do with how we communicate on track, and from my side, it is always pretty low voltage, but from Tom's side, it is pretty relaxed as well,” Stella added.

Throughout the 2025 season, Oscar Piastri has won five races, including the Spanish Grand Prix, where he finished ahead of teammate Norris. Piastri, however, suffered a hiccup at the Canadian GP, as he failed to finish on the podium for the first time since the season-opening race in Australia.

With the Formula 1 calendar now heading to the Red Bull Ring for the Austrian Grand Prix, Piastri will have his focus set on recording another race victory at the Spielberg event.