Stella heaps the praise on championship leader Piastri: 'Testament to the quality of work done'

The Australian, in just his third year in Formula 1, has taken four race wins in his first six Grands Prix to start the 2025 campaign, showing superb racecraft and consistency in his most recent win at the Miami Grand Prix.

With those four wins to his name this season, the 24-year-old leads the championship, doing so for the first time after the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Piastri sits on 131 points, 16 clear of his teammate Lando Norris, who sits in P2, while McLaren already have a lead of over 100 points in the constructors' championship, leading on 246 over Mercedes on 141 points.

The growth of Piastri in the pinnacle of motorsport has been superb since making his debut for McLaren in 2023, and there is one key factor that has helped guide him to the top of the standings, Stella believes.

"Looking at the way Oscar is mastering and managing tyre degradation at the moment, no way that this improvement would come simply from the car," the Italian team boss began.

"And this has happened not by chance, or not because Oscar is getting a little older. This is because there has been a lot of work done by the engineers in terms of understanding the driving style, how you damage the tyres, and how you can prevent damaging the tyres," continued Stella.

McLaren's tyre preservtion has been something that sets them apart over the rest of the grid, especially with their second-phase race pace, allowing them to show superior speed during those key laps.

But Stella is adament that it is far more to do with the work done by Piastri out of the car that has resulted in his ability to manage the tyres well, allowing him to have a major tyre advantage.

"This is very different from when you have graining, when you have graining at the front, graining at the rear, overheating at the front, overheating at the rear. It's not like you improve the way you master the tyres in a way that is good for all seasons. There are many ways in which you need to be able to do so, and like I say, I think this is a testament to the quality of the work done by Oscar and the team around him," the Italian concluded.