Oscar Piastri has given himself a pat on the back for what he has described as “a great season” as a rookie with McLaren.
Piastri eventually finished a creditable ninth in the drivers’ standings, scoring 92 of his total of 97 points in the final 13 grands prix after being handed an upgrade from the British Grand Prix that turned around his season.
The 22-year-old earned considerable plaudits for his pace, ability, and calmness under pressure, although recognising himself his learning curve has been steep once the team started performing.
Piastri delivered in a number of races, notably with his maiden podium in finishing third in Japan, quickly followed by stand-out drives in Qatar where he won the sprint from pole position and was then second in the grand prix after starting sixth.
Reflecting on his achievements, Piastri said: “It’s definitely been a great season, a lot of highlights that I wouldn’t have been able to do without the team improving the car the way they did, so I have to give a lot of credit to them.
“But also, I have to pat myself on the back. I had to deliver in those moments, too.
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“For me, probably the proudest moments were in Silverstone, where we rocked up with a car that was competitive, and I was able to get the most out of it.
“Japan, okay, not my finest race, but I did enough to score my first podium, and Qatar, we had one opportunity in the whole year to actually win something, and we managed to take it, so I can be very proud of that.
“There were definitely some trickier weekends and things still to work on.”
Piastri knows that going into season two next year he has to be more consistent, particularly if McLaren can again take another step with its 2024 car.
The Melburnian was often self-critical after an event, especially if he made an error at any stage, which he appreciates he has to cut out if he is to progress further himself.
“As a whole season, you don’t win championships by one or two good weekends,” said the F3 and F2 champion. “I know that from my junior career, so I just need to make that happen more often.
“Hopefully, I can be more on it from the start of a weekend. Even in the final race in Abu Dhabi, the pace was really good from the start but (I was) just making a lot of mistakes.
“In some ways, I’d rather it be that way than going into qualifying a few tenths off, scratching my head and wondering how I’m going do it.
“As opposed to the second half of the year, if there has been a gap, it’s more often than not been because of mistakes rather than lacking pace.
“So I think with races there’s still some work to do. I feel like I’m slowly getting there, but I’m happy with how I’m tracking, and I definitely know a lot more now than I did coming into the year.”
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