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Oscar Piastri on new ‘trajectory’ after driving style ‘adaptations’ McLaren team principal Andrea Stella has said Oscar Piastri has made progress in adapting his driving style for 2026 machinery, after an improved showing at Monza. Piastri had running in and around the podium places for much of the race, before Lando Norris passed on the final lap as McLaren put both its cars in the top five since the Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix in June. Oscar Piastri uses Lando Norris approach for ‘pretty radical’ driving developments While Piastri has been largely consistent in his placings this year, with eight of his 10 race finishes having been inside the top six, the middle part of the season has seen Norris establish a healthy lead in the Drivers’ standings within McLaren, the reigning World Champion sitting 55 points ahead of his teammate after the Italian Grand Prix. The drivers were rarely far apart in performance through the whole of last season and, with that, the team has been working with the Australian to ensure he makes the most of 2026-era machinery. Stella has previously said that Piastri’s performance gap to Norris has been “purely technical”, much more about driving style than overall talent, and an improved showing at Monza is proof to the McLaren team principal that he has been heading in the right direction with his driving. “I think it’s a race that confirms a trajectory with Oscar,” Stella told PlanetF1.com and other media at Monza. “We’ve had a couple of races in which we saw that for the requirements of this year’s car, especially in the race when the car is light, we needed to make some adaptations to his natural driving style. “We kind of adopted the same approach that we used with Lando last year, and we saw, pretty radically, some developments. “We were happy to see how competitive Oscar was in Zandvoort in qualifying trim. We said we need to do a little bit more for the race trim. Analysis from the Italian Grand Prix Italian GP conclusions: Shameless Hamilton playing dangerous game, painful Russell defeat Italian GP driver ratings: Another costly Leclerc mistake and an Antonelli masterclass “We put in some work, and it’s good that this work seems like it’s been useful here in Monza. “Oscar has always been very sharp when it comes to using the power unit in situations like today, so I think we just confirmed the progress. “We always said – I think I’ve been very consistent from this point of view – that for Oscar this was a technical matter, but it has to do with combining your natural execution in the car with what is the demand of the car to be fast. “Sometimes with Oscar we talk like ‘We don’t have to feel the car good; we have to fill the car fast’, and we needed to bridge a little bit the gap between these two, considering the requirements of this year’s Formula 1 cars. “So I’m very happy, very pleased with the progress that Oscar is making, and I think he will have a very strong second half of the season.” Piastri currently sits seventh in the Drivers’ standings, with McLaren third in the Constructors’ table. Additional reporting by Thomas Maher Want to be the first to know exclusive information from the F1 paddock? Join our broadcast channel on WhatsApp to get the scoop on the latest developments from our team of accredited journalists. You can also subscribe to the PlanetF1 YouTube channel for exclusive features, hear from our paddock journalists with stories from the heart of Formula 1 and much more! Read next: Antonelli and Russell telemetry data settles Mercedes Monza strategy debate