Oscar Piastri's key trait identified by F1 veteran as gap to Lando Norris shrinks

F1 veteran and McLaren team boss Andrea Stella felt that one of the key traits that helped Oscar Piastri the most was his ability to keep the noise out of his head. The Australian is in his third season in the sport and is slowly emerging as the favorite because he won two of the first four races.

One thing that has stood out for him, especially compared to his teammate Lando Norris, is the ability to just focus on the task ahead and declutter his mind from everything else. Considering Oscar Piastri's team radio, the driver did not seem under any stress, and there was no drama.

This ability has helped the Australian in clawing back the gap that had originated after the first race of the season, where one mistake cost him dearly and led to a major deficit in terms of points. Since then, the driver has dominated the race in China, was right behind Lando Norris in Japan, and again picked up a clinical win in Bahrain.

Talking to the media, including Sportskeeda, Andrea Stella revealed the one thing that has stood out for him. He believed that Oscar Piastri tends not to have too much noise in his head during a race and hence can process the information quicker and in a more condensed manner. He said:

“I am impressed, but not surprised. I’m not surprised because for us, like I always repeat, it was very apparent pretty much straight away that we were dealing with a driver with incredible natural talent, but associated also to some particular characteristics, I would say.

"I’ve always said that there’s no noise in Oscar’s head, which is a very useful characteristic in F1, and I think this allows him to progress, to process information, to process what’s available in the situations as a way of improving himself at a very fast rate,”

He added,

“For being race 50 in F1, certainly what he’s achieving is pretty remarkable, but what I can say is that considering his qualities and considering the way he approaches race weekend and his F1 experience, I think he will be able to sustain this growth and this trajectory for the years to come. So it’s a very interesting prospect for the entire F1, I would say.”

Oscar Piastri's win in Bahrain compared to the win in Baku

The win in Bahrain was Oscar Piastri's fourth career win. The driver won two races last season in Hungary and Baku, and this season, he's picked up the win in China and Bahrain. Andrea Stella was questioned on which win he thought was the best of the Australian's career.

The McLaren boss drew direct comparisons between Oscar Piastri's win in Baku last season and the one in Bahrain as he said:

“If you think of the victory in Baku, for instance, it was a pretty crystalline, clinic victory, that one with [Charles] Leclerc attacking him every single lap. For me, this one is the one in which he’s been just, I think, most robust. No hesitations, no inaccuracies. Everything that was available, he capitalized on.

“So for me, this gives me more the sense of robustness, you know, solid racing. I think the Baku one was more on the edge, it was more pressure, this one was more managing gaps, if anything."

Oscar Piastri is now only three points behind Lando Norris in the championship, and the battle is only going to intensify as the season progresses.