Copyright sportskeeda
Andrea Stella believes Oscar Piastri has regained his competitive edge after a strong showing in sprint qualifying at the 2025 Brazilian GP. The McLaren team principal felt the Australian’s performance at Interlagos marked a return to form and could make the weekend more exciting.Unlike the previous rounds in Austin and Mexico, where Piastri struggled to match Lando Norris, the Melbourne-born driver was much closer on pace in Brazil. He was just under a tenth slower than Norris in FP1, finishing the session second fastest.In the sprint qualifying shootout, a small error in the first corner cost him valuable time, placing him third on the grid for the sprint race. The McLaren pair were separated by just 0.185 seconds in sprint qualifying and 0.023 seconds in FP1. Stella noted that without that mistake, Oscar Piastri was in contention for a top qualifying result.Speaking to Sky Sports F1 about the form of Oscar Piastri, Stella said:“I think here in Brazil he’s back to his form. I’m sure he wants to polish one tenth more. It’s a shame he had a little mistake in his first attempt at corner one. Oscar is there, and I’m sure it’s going to be a very interesting competition this weekend.”Oscar Piastri feels more confident for the Brazilian GPOscar Piastri admitted that mistakes in the final phase of the sprint shootout at the Brazilian GP cost him valuable lap time. The driver made an error in the first turn that cost him a couple of tenths compared to his teammate, Lando Norris.Piastri further improved in the second push lap and ultimately qualified in P3 for the sprint. Teammate Lando Norris will start the sprint on pole position with rookie Kimi Antonelli alongside him. Looking back at the session, Piastri told F1TV,“The soft was just a bit different to what I expected. I had a couple of big moments on my first lap which wasn’t ideal. That was a bit of a shame, but ultimately I felt much happier today than the last couple of weeks."He added,"Practice went very well and for Sprint Qualifying I think we changed a few things which took a little bit of getting used to again. Ultimately, I’m pretty happy. I would have liked a little bit more but we can definitely fight with what we’ve got and there are obviously a lot more points on Sunday.”Oscar Piastri sits just one point behind teammate Lando Norris in the 2025 Drivers’ Championship, with Max Verstappen a further 35 points adrift. The Red Bull driver, on his part, had a poor qualifying session and would line up in P6 behind the likes of George Russell, Kimi Antonelli, and Fernando Alonso.
