China shows how far Piastri has come

The growth of Oscar Piastri was on full display as he took his third and most convincing win, which was a massive step forward from his previous drive in Shanghai.

After the promise and heartbreak of the Australian opener won by McLaren teammate Lando Norris, Piastri needed to respond at the Chinese Grand Prix to not only regain ground, but also stamp his authority within the garage.

The Brighton boy did that brilliantly, converting a maiden pole to a dominant 9s win, leading all-but three of the 56 laps.

What made the drive all the more impressive was how calmly Piastri controlled the field in a race where drivers had to delicately make their tyres survive.

Many expected the 56-lap race to be a two-stopper, but it ended up being a one-stopper with the #81 doing the final 42 laps on the one set of Hards.

The speed and tyre management skills on display is a prime example of how far Piastri has come in the space of 12 months.

Oscar Piastri celebrates victory at the 2025 Chinese GP. Image: McLaren

Whilst Shanghai has just created the latest highlight in a rapidly growing career, same race and circuit last year was one of the lowest points of his sophomore season at McLaren.

Piastri qualified fifth but drifted throughout the race fell to eighth as he still came to grips with the Pirelli tyres.

Meanwhile, Norris started almost alongside Piastri in fourth, but did the opposite and propelled himself to second, 43s further up the road than the Australian.

However, 2025 was the opposite with Piastri dominating and Stella highlighted the Aussie’s improvement.

“I think the performance that he has pulled off during this weekend shows how rapidly he grows, how rapidly he improves,” Stella told Sky Sports.

“Tyre management is definitely one of the most difficult things to get when you are a rookie and enter this balance of pushing, not pushing, saving but not going too slow.

“It’s a tricky one to make, and now he does it very well.

“But it’s also the technicalities around the driving style. I’ve seen Oscar evolving from a driving point of view, and this is ultimately what makes the difference.

“If you are capable of pulling all these aspects together when it counts and the car is competitive, then you can pull off this sort of performance.”

Oscar Pisatri fought hard just to get points at Shanghai last year. Image: LAT

Piastri admitted he did a significant amount of “homework” on the flowing circuit, which has since been resurfaced, and was thrilled it paid off.

“I think saying I struggled a little bit last year is being pretty nice. It was a big turnaround this weekend compared to China last year,” Piastri said.

“It was a track that I had a lot of homework to do from 12 months ago. Yes, it’s changed a lot with the resurfacing, but there’s still a lot of challenges around just the layout, regardless of the surface.

“I think for me it’s been very satisfying to have probably my most complete weekend in F1 this weekend be at a track I struggled the most at last year.

“So very pleased with the hard work that not just I’ve done, but the whole team around me.

“The engineers on my side of the garage, but everyone at McLaren—for firstly giving us a car that’s much stronger than it was 12 months ago here, but also being able to chip in where they can and try to help me improve.

“So, I think it’s been a really nice show of progress in 12 months, but there’s still going to be challenges along the way. It’s just a nice confidence boost at the moment.”

Main Photo by Bryn Lennon – Formula 1/Formula 1 via Getty Images

READ THE LATEST ISSUE OF AUTO ACTION HERE

Don’t forget the print edition of Auto Action available via subscription here. For more of the latest motorsport news, subscribe to AUTO ACTION magazine.