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Piastri's race engineer reflects on 'special' Baku win as he identifies area that's 'no longer a weakness'
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Oscar Piastri’s race engineer Tom Stallard has hailed the Australian’s victory in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix as “pretty special”, with Stallard particularly impressed by how the 23-year-old kept a cool head as well as displaying progression in one key area.
After maintaining the pressure on race leader Charles Leclerc during the opening stint of the race, Piastri pulled off a bold overtake to pass the Ferrari on Lap 20 of 51. While Leclerc attempted to retake the position on several occasions during the remaining laps, the McLaren man held on to claim his second win in Formula 1.
Reflecting on Piastri’s performance on the F1 Nation podcast, Stallard gave an insight into just how tense the second half of the event proved to be for everyone in the team.
“It was a pretty special race,” said Stallard. “The overtake he [Piastri] put in against Charles, he came from downtown with that one.
“From there on we hoped that the clear air would make things simpler, but it didn't. The next 30 odd laps were pretty stressful for everybody.
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“We attacked Charles in the first stint and we didn't get past, and in doing so, we damaged the tyres quite a lot and then we weren't able to keep up with them anymore. Charles was able to build a big gap.
“Then we had a good pit stop. The pit stop itself was good. We were quick through the pit lane. Lando [Norris] did a wonderful job for Oscar, helping out with Checo [Sergio Perez], and suddenly we were back on the gearbox of Leclerc.
“I wanted to remind [Oscar] what happened in the first stint, because it's still a lot of laps at that point, not an easy one-stop here by any means. So I sort of said, you know, remember in the first stint, we damaged the tyres a lot, attacking. And this time let's be tactical.
“He knows me well enough also to know that that's the scientist in me saying that, but the racer in me is saying ‘go and get him!’. And the racer in Oscar, fortunately, went and got him.
“We saw that the Ferrari and the Red Bull couldn't get past Oscar, and I'm not sure that those fortunes would have been reversed if the cars had been in a different order.”
Stallard has acted as a race engineer for several drivers over the course of his career in F1
Pushed on whether this marked Piastri’s best drive in F1, Stallard answered: “I think so. The thing you have to understand is that also, as he's been here, the car underneath him has been getting better and better as well. So there have been other great drives that he's put together that haven't produced the headline result that this one clearly has.
“I think the thing that was so good to see really was the keeping a cool head. We know he's got a cool head, but keeping the cool head when under so much pressure from the car behind. It's a different level of pressure when it's for the win compared to when that's for fifth place.
“He's really calm and he genuinely is still really calm in that situation. It makes it very easy to work with because his calmness creates calmness in the people around him, and that makes it easy to make better decisions and think things through carefully.”
And when asked whether Piastri can continue to improve, Stallard pointed to a skill that the Australian has already bettered himself at as he explained: “Certainly. I mean, we weren't on pole and we didn't get fastest lap!
“We've been working really hard with Oscar this year on race tyre management and we've made massive strides with that. It's no longer a weakness, let's say. I still think there's plenty to learn. He's improving all the time with his understanding of the tyres.”
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