McLaren Team Principal Praises 24-Year-Old Driver
McLaren team principal Andrea Stella praised Oscar Piastri for a small but telling act of teamwork in Italian Grand Prix qualifying. In the closing minutes of Q2, Piastri’s race engineer came on the radio with a clear request: “Oscar, if you can help Lando, please give him a slipstream before Turn Four, but make sure we don’t impede; you are three seconds ahead.” Piastri acknowledged and positioned his car to pull Lando Norris along the straight. It was a tidy execution in heavy traffic, where timing and spacing can easily go wrong. The call was simple, and so was the response: help your teammate without breaking any rules.
After the session, Autosport asked why McLaren would make such a request when both drivers are fighting for the championship. Stella said the question was fair, but he was never worried once the instruction went out. “I somehow knew Oscar would do it,” he explained, adding that the moment reflected the personal qualities behind McLaren’s drivers. For Stella, this is not a one-off favor; it is a basic element the team wants to live by in competition. He framed it as culture in action, not a tactical gamble.
Stella was also asked whether the same would happen at a season finale like Abu Dhabi. He refused to predict a hypothetical, but said he is proud of how both drivers are competing “in the way we want.” He stressed that Piastri’s tow was not the decisive factor for Norris’s lap; Norris still had to deliver, but it was the right thing to do. The gesture stood for fairness and good sportsmanship, even in a title fight. McLaren, Stella said, wants to see this kind of cooperation when it is safe and within the rules.
There was another important point in Stella’s comments: from a driver’s perspective, Piastri had every right not to comply. Refusing would not have been elegant, he said, but racing does not always ask for elegance, only that the team’s principles and the sporting rules are respected. Still, Piastri chose to help. It showed trust in the pit wall and trust in Norris, without compromising his own session. It also showed that the team can execute a small plan cleanly under pressure, which matters at a place like Monza, where a tow is powerful and impeding is easy.
This was a small piece of radio that told a bigger story about McLaren today. The team balanced individual goals with a moment of teamwork, and the drivers carried it out with care: give the slipstream, avoid any block, and keep both laps clean. Stella’s pride came from that balance, hard racing, clear rules, and simple respect between teammates. At Monza, where hundredths often decide everything, these details add up, and for McLaren, they also define the standards they want to keep as the title fight continues.
