Oscar Piastri has highlighted adaptability as a key quality for a driver to possess as he continues his meteoric rise in Formula 1.
The Australian won the F1 Sprint at the Qatar Grand Prix after starting from pole position. He backed that up with second in the grand prix proper in what was his best weekend of the year.
It’s a performance in keeping with McLaren’s improved form, sparked by an upgrade package deployed at the Austrian Grand Prix for Lando Norris.
That made its way onto Piastri’s car for the British Grand Prix, where he narrowly missed a maiden podium, thanks in large part to an ill-timed Safety Car.
A further upgrade arrived for the team at the Singapore Grand Prix, though really netted results a week later in Japan.
There, Piastri chalked up his first F1 podium, finishing third behind Max Verstappen and team-mate Norris.
“I think the story of the season for us is pretty well known and the upgrades to the car that we both got for the first time in Silverstone have given us a car that has allowed us to fight at the front on several occasions and that has been great,” Piastri said in his first Q&A with Speedcafe.
“Every car has its own characteristics and I think we know as a team where we need to improve with this one. Lando and I have given pretty similar feedback and we are all working to strengthen the package.
“Throughout the junior formulae, I’ve driven a new car pretty much every year so, getting used to specific characteristics, is nothing new. I just try to adapt and extract the most from it.”
The McLaren MCL60 started the year knowing its car missed pre-season targets.
It had good straight-line speed and was strong around circuits with high-speed content, but it wore its tyres quickly.
That saw Piastri and Norris slip down the order on race day as the good tyre warmup that they enjoyed on a single lap in qualifying translated into degradation on Sunday.
In Austria, the upgrade package added aerodynamic load, improving tyre degradation and medium-speed corners, though the low-speed weakness remained.
Fundamentally though, the handling of the car did not change; the balance remained largely where it was with the addition of more grip.
It was then more of the same in Suzuka, where Stella identified the hairpin and Casino Triangle as areas where the MCL60 lost time compared to many of its rivals.
With only one low-speed corner on the Lusail circuit, the Qatar Grand Prix was always expected to be a strong one for McLaren.
That saw Piastri capitalise, banking the Shootout pole on Saturday and victory later that evening.
“I’m certainly enjoying how things have gone recently. Even going back to Singapore, it was great to make up 10 places in the race there and I’ve managed to carry that momentum onto Japan and Qatar with back-to-back GP podiums and a Sprint victory.
“I’m still learning all the time and building my knowledge up slowly and surely at venues that I’ve never raced at before so, I’d say that it is still work in progress but I’m happy with how things are going.
“I’ve only done 17 races so there is a long way to go, and I just need to keep cracking on with the learning process.”
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