The 'gift' that Piastri shares with Alonso and Schumacher

In fact, some of those strengths led team principal Andrea Stella to make some very eye-catching comparisons on Thursday morning.

“Obviously when McLaren so strongly wanted to sign Oscar, we looked at the results in the junior categories,” Stella said. “But what happened in the early days of the collaboration with Oscar is that we could see that what he achieved in the junior categories had good reasons for that to happen.

“We could see this in the natural speed, which is related to the talent to some extent. We even saw it in the first day of the simulator in the way he was assessing his own performance, saying: ‘This is where I am. This is where I need to improve’. It was matching so well with what we could see from the data. That was quite impressive.

“That’s where I thought, ‘It’s just a gift’ to some extent. His self-awareness in relation to speed, in relation to how to go and grab this opportunity — this became apparent then at the test and then race by race.”

“Then we saw the qualities at the attitudinal level, and these qualities have to do with being able to continuously improve. You may be as talented as I’m saying, but I’m sure there are a lot of people that were talented but it didn’t lead anywhere because there was no attitude to continuous improvements.

“I think we have really good examples now on the grid of drivers that can keep being extremely competitive at ages that we didn’t think that will be obvious because of continuous improvements — it’s about the attitude. In this sense I think this one is a similarity with Fernando [Alonso].

“Then we have the person behind the driver. For us it was important to make sure that the person that we keep on board is a person that not only fits our culture but will contribute even more to the culture, adding to the values and the behaviours that make us become a team of mates.

“And in this sense Oscar, I have to say, from just a personal point of view, if he wasn’t a Formula 1 driver, I would appreciate him as a person. The values he brings into the sport and the values he brings into the collaboration with the team in this sense makes me think about Michael [Schumacher].

“Somebody who worked with Michael here in the paddock — he is at another team — said to me he was so capable of building families. He was definitely tough on track, but within the team, the spirit, the sense of unity was not short of like a family, a sense of family.

“So I think I’m referring to natural talent, attitude and culture and values. These three things became apparent to us relatively soon, and that’s why the conversations started soon.”

Those are names that do not get thrown around often, even if they are perhaps closer to the tip of Stella’s tongue given the time he spent working with the two greats.

But they were comments that really showed how valued Piastri is, because of the attitude he has to both the team and his own development. And while there’s self-confidence that is visible through the high standard he sets for himself, there’s not a hint of ego when you speak to him about it all, despite his remarkably strong start to life in Formula 1 that almost belies his rookie status.

“I think for myself, I wouldn’t say it’s exceeded my expectations,” Piastri told me in Suzuka of his grand prix career to date. “From a personal level, I think maybe I just didn’t expect to honestly have a car that’s been able to fight like we have in the last four or five weekends or more. So I think maybe that’s sort of helped a little bit.

“When you have a good day, you can fight for a podium now. But I still think there’s been good days, and there’s been some not so good days as well. I think maybe the the highs have been maybe a bit higher than I expected, but also that’s down to the team giving us a car that is now capable of fighting for a lot more too.”

Not only that, but in the same way that Stella puts emphasis on Piastri’s personal attributes, so too the 22-year-old speaks of the importance of the way he has been treated so far.

“Of course, you always want to be in a car that’s competitive. But I think from my side, I’ve got a lot of respect and appreciation for McLaren as a team because of the history but also just the way that they’ve treated me personally has been very compassionate, very kind.

“We’ve already been through quite a lot together in the last 12 months so I think for me, that’s a very important factor. And I have absolutely no concern that as a team we’re going in the right direction.”

As if right on cue, Saturday allowed Piastri to back that point up with his first front-row start, and then a maiden podium followed that displayed the 2021 Formula 2 champion’s ability to score the big results McLaren wants. But it’s not just the value in how he is now, it’s in his growth potential. As Stella pointed out, the Australian’s self-assessment is always hard but usually fair, and it showed itself to be particularly beneficial in Japan.

When you strip back the joy of his first front-row start giving way to his first podium, Piastri was over 17 seconds behind Lando Norris, with a best lap over a second slower than his team-mate. And that was despite a well-timed VSC saving him a bit of time on his first pit stop, and Norris losing up to ten seconds behind the ailing Sergio Perez moments later.

The trophy and the finishing position is significant, but so too was the margin between the drivers, and Piastri was not letting the celebrations cloud his judgement of his performance.

“There’s still a lot to learn and try and improve on, but I’ll enjoy the moment for now,” Piastri said.

“I think for myself, it probably wasn’t my strongest Sunday. So from that side of things, there’s still a few things I want to work on.

“I just wasn’t quick enough at certain points of the race. These high-deg races are probably the biggest thing I need to try and work on at the moment. I think it’s still quite fresh for me, obviously. In all the junior racing before this there are no races like this. So the only way you can learn from it is by just doing the races.

“Had I had this race again, there were some things I would have done a bit different. But that’s all part of the learning. It’s exciting to know that we can finish on the podium, even if I feel like there’s more to come.”

Too right it’s exciting, for both Piastri and for McLaren, with the latter set to reap the rewards of that learning process in the years ahead.