Oscar Piastri is optimistic about raising the bar with his performance at this weekend’s British Grand Prix as he will benefit from a raft of upgrades on his McLaren.
The first tranche of updates – floor, engine cover, sidepod inlets, halo, and cooling louvres – were witnessed on team-mate Lando Norris’ MCL60 ahead of last weekend’s race in Austria.
The British driver benefitted considerably, qualifying and finishing the grand prix in fourth, whilst he qualified third from the sprint shootout, only to drop out of the points by the conclusion of the one-third distance event.
For this weekend’s race at Silverstone, Piastri’s car will sport the same updates, while the next step in development is expected to again be given to Norris.
“Having the upgrades we had last week obviously looked very good,” said Piastri.
“I want to take it with a pinch of salt knowing that historically, it’s been quite a good track for the team and for Lando so we’ll see how we go this weekend.
“But I think we can be optimistic that we’ll at least be quicker than we were at the start of the year before Austria.”
Asked by Speedcafe whether there had been an opportunity to compare the data between the two cars following the race at the Red Bull Ring, Piastri added: “From the numbers standpoint, for the engineers, it was as expected, the correlation was good.
“Speaking with Lando, and listening to his comments publicly as well, it doesn’t sound like it changes how you have to drive the car that much, so it should be just a quicker car hopefully.
“The interesting thing from last weekend was the race pace seemed a step better. Over one lap, in the package I had, without the track limits in Q2, we would have been in Q3, and we were quicker than other cars that also had their laps deleted.
“So over one lap, I don’t think there’s a difference, but in the race, before Austria, if we could have kept up with a Ferrari for even two laps, we would have been very happy so it clearly looks like a step forward, and hopefully that continues.”
The only downside for Piastri is that he is a step behind Norris with regard to the developments conceding that “in an ideal world” they would both have simultaneously benefitted.
But appreciating the circumstances, he said: “The floor and upgrades I have were supposed to be for both cars this weekend.
“And whatever bits Lando potentially gets were supposed to be for Budapest (the Hungarian GP in a fortnight’s time) so it’s just a reflection of the team pushing very, very hard to get everything done.
“I completely understand why Lando would get it over me given his experience with the team and position in the team.
“Of course, I’d love to have a direct comparison, but I’m very understanding of how it’s played out.”
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