McLaren explains why Piastri has become a 'reference' for Norris

McLaren Team Principal, Andrea Stella, claims that Oscar Piastri has become an important reference for Lando Norris after his performance at the British Grand Prix.

Piastri's lap in qualifying was just over a tenth away from Norris, while he managed to match his experienced teammates pace during the race.

Stella was impressed with the Australian when speaking to media, including RacingNews365.com: "Oscar's performance is just outstanding, and to think he is a rookie.

"Already in practice he was immediately quick. He was, in some corners, a good reference for Lando. The last corner in Barcelona he was quick straight away, and here in some of the high speed [corners] Oscar was again very quick."

Stella believes the competition between the two drivers will enable them to extract more pace from their car, as they look to build on their recent results with their upgrade package.

He explained: "These allow some synergies between the drivers because both can see where you can improve from each other and this elevates their performance. So not only we are impressed, but with a net benefit in having two competitive drivers, they can both benefit."

Stella: Piastri's race craft stands out

Even though the British GP was Piastri's tenth start in F1, Stella believes he more "mature" than most rookies in their debut season.

"If anything, the element that stands out today is his race craft and the ability keep life in the tyres, [while] clean driving in an intense racing situation," he said.

"Thinking about the Safety Car restart on the Hard tyre, he was immediately there. So this is mature race craft, which is quite impressive in a guy that is so young."