Norris to serve as "frame of reference" for Piastri
Norris to serve as "frame of reference" for Piastri
New McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has confirmed Lando Norris will serve as "a frame of reference" for Oscar Piastri ahead of his F1 debut this year.
Following a protracted transfer saga from Alpine that involved the intervention of the Contract Recognition Board, Piastri was finally confirmed as a McLaren driver last season as the replacement for fellow Australian Daniel Ricciardo.
At just 23 and 21 respectively, Norris and Piastri form the youngest driver pairing on the grid, yet the Briton now has a wealth of experience behind him as he enters what will be his fifth season in the sport.
Stella believes Norris' banked knowledge will serve Piastri well early in his own F1 career, ensuring he will not be found wanting.
Asked initially whether McLaren lacked expertise given Ricciardo's departure, Stella, speaking at the end of last year prior to his appointment as team boss, and in a group interview that included GPFans, said: "The important point is to have continuity with Lando.
READ MORE...Piastri hailed for side-stepping Alpine Szafnauer conflict
"It keeps the reference and it's a reference we know very well because we have gone through the development of Lando.
“This has certainly been a development from a technical point of view, from a driving point of view, a race craft point of view, so we know this very well and it will become a frame of reference for Oscar.
“This is not only in terms of Oscar’s own performance but also his understanding of the car."
McLaren unworried by lack of Ricciardo expertise
Piastri has been forced to bide his time to get into F1, spending last season on the sidelines with Alpine following a stellar junior career in which he won the Formula Renault Eurocup in 2019, F3 the following year, and F2 in 2021.
As far as Stella is concerned, the fact Ricciardo is no longer with the team is not a worry as he is confident Piastri will quickly learn from Norris and numerous other reference points along the way.
"Formula 1, unlike some other sports, relies a lot on numbers, which means we are lucky as people in dealing with that," added Stella.
“In Formula 1, you pretty much get a very good idea from the numbers of what your competitiveness is.
“With the drivers, you deal with subtleties, the final percentage of your performance.
“I wouldn't be too scared. If you give me good numbers, I would take it even if we don't have very clear references from the drivers.
“So the journey we want to take with Oscar is also an independent journey. He's certainly very talented and we want him to use his references, references from the car, references even from what we learned with Daniel, and so on.
“We are quite adamant that he will have enough talent, process, intelligence to find his own way, taking advantage of these references.
“So I'm not very concerned at all that we may lose this experience, and in terms of comparison.”
Related
Change your timezone:
Latest News
Haas announce Hulkenberg EXIT as F1 star's new team confirmed
- 32 minutes ago
Red Bull to lose F1 MVP as true cost of Horner saga hits
- 2 hours ago
F1 pundit reveals the thing about Wolff that ANNOYS Horner
- 2 hours ago
Newey exit DATE revealed as Red Bull F1 chief set to leave
- 3 hours ago
F1 News Today: Red Bull star set to QUIT team as F1 legend reveals flood of death threats
- Today 06:27
Audi agree STAR driver contract as Mercedes driver tipped for new F1 seat THIS season - GPFans F1 Recap
- Yesterday 23:57
Related news
McLaren leading fight for HUGE cash injection
McLaren boss explains why FIA REVERSED Norris F1 penalty
Young F1 star set to make McLaren debut in injury replacement
McLaren driver opens F1 'school' with stars among SHOCK first students
F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
About GPFans
GPFans is a multi-platform, multi-language brand dedicated to Formula One coverage. We bring you all the ins and outs of the sport, 24/7, everything from up-to-the-minute news and features to the latest viral stories and clips.We believe that a new generation of exciting, outspoken drivers will make F1 more popular than ever before, and we want to give our users access to as much of their heroes as possible, on and off the track. From Lewis Hamilton to Max Verstappen, Daniel Ricciardo to Sebastian Vettel, we provide in-depth analysis of every every Grand Prix in the season, from Australia to Abu Dhabi.
With Formula One under the new ownership of Liberty Media, how the sport is being covered is evolving, and GPFans will look to be at the heart of this progression into new media, as one of the fastest-growing sites covering the king of motorsports.
Follow us on your favorite social media channel
Corporate & Media
Innovatieweg 20C7007 CD, Doetinchem, Netherlands
+31645516860