McLaren boss Andrea Stella has pinpointed "overall racecraft" as the main area for Oscar Piastri to work on following his F1 debut. The Australian had a difficult start to his rookie season in the sport, having lined up in P18 on the grid for the Bahrain Grand Prix before being forced to retire from the race after 13 laps due to a mechanical issue. With this in mind, Stella hopes that Piastri can gain from more time behind the wheel going forwards. "I think [it] is the overall racecraft that we need to develop," Stella told media, including RacingNews365.com . "But not because there's any lack of talent. It's just time in the car really."
McLaren reflect on Piastri's F1 debut
Stella was overall impressed with what he saw from Piastri during the weekend and believes that there is a good basis for continued improvement going forwards. "We are very pleased with what we saw in qualifying," the team boss explained. "Because, apart from the big oversteer he had in [Turn] 2 – which meant he lost basically the possibility to go into 2 in a single corner – in some other corners, he was a match for Lando [Norris], which is really very encouraging. "In terms of pure speed [on] new tyres, and in the race, [his] race speed, race consistency lap after lap, was the best long run he has done. "So [we hope he can] just carry on in all areas, with the same methodical and progressive approach that he has had so far." Piastri's teammate Norris retired from the race shortly before the finish after being forced to make six pit-stops throughout due to a pneumatic issue with his MCL60.
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