Stella pinpoints where Piastri has improved as McLaren driver sits on brink of matching Senna record at Imola

McLaren Team Principal Andrea Stella has pinpointed where Oscar Piastri has improved over the last year as a driver, with the Australian on the brink of matching a record held by Ayrton Senna at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix this weekend.

Piastri has been the pacesetter during the 2025 campaign, securing four wins – including three on the bounce in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Miami – that has allowed him to take a 16-point lead in the Drivers’ Championship over team mate Lando Norris.

If Piastri claims a fourth win in succession this weekend, it will match a record held by Senna of four wins in a row with McLaren, which dates back to 1991 when the Brazilian won the opening quartet of races en route to his third and final World title.

«Oscar himself is gaining these kinds of chances and opportunities because overall Oscar has become a faster driver,» said Stella, who has worked alongside World Champions including Michael Schumacher, Fernando Alonso and Kimi Raikkonen during his career.

BAHRAIN, BAHRAIN - APRIL 13: Andrea Stella, Team Principal of McLaren Race winner Oscar Piastri of — Stella has helped turn McLaren’s fortunes around with Piastri and Norris both winning this year

«I think that’s the main thing in which he has improved, and by being a faster driver then this means he can have more space to process situations, process information, focus on the right details, because the foundation from a speed point of view is there, so that’s where I think Oscar has improved the most.

«But it’s a very long season, we need to keep the concentration [in the] team and Oscar himself because we have only done one fourth of the season so far and there’s a long way to go.»

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McLaren dominated both Friday practice sessions at Imola, with Piastri fractionally faster than Norris in each session, but with the duo cautious about their chances for Qualifying on Saturday, Stella is keen for the team to be competitive at all venues this season.

«The chances of winning a race for a McLaren driver, based on the statistics over the previous races and based on the competitiveness that we saw even in Free Practice 1, remain high, and that’s good for us because that’s what we want,» he said.

«We want to be competitive in every single circuit, even if I think circuits like Miami or Bahrain or China gave us a bit more opportunities because the car this year seems to be performing very well where we have low-speed corners, and here in Imola it is anything medium to high-speed corners so we will see.»

Stella pinpoints where Piastri has improved in 2025

With McLaren claiming every Grand Prix victory in 2025 bar one – Max Verstappen’s victory in Suzuka – the squad are enjoying a healthy lead of 105 points in the Teams’ Standings, ahead of second-placed Mercedes.

And, as the start of the European leg of the season gets underway, it marks the time many teams bring upgrades to their machines to try and gain on their rivals, with the papaya squad no exception.

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«The upgrades for this weekend are actually relatively minor,» explained Stella. «We plan to deliver some more upgrades over the course of the season and some more substantial upgrades because somehow, like I said before, it’s just one fourth of the season done so far and there’s definitely the need to remain concentrated on improving our performance.

«We see everyone else is bringing upgrades, we see floors, bodywork, quite substantial parts that are being upgraded, so I’m just looking forward to seeing the improvements we can make on the MCL39, which thankfully was competitive right from the start.

«We will see this Grand Prix in Imola, then we have a big variation with Monaco, I think this will give us even more of an idea of how competitive we are, but definitely we will need some upgrades to consolidate our position.»