Oscar Piastri has become more vocal in McLaren engineering debriefs as the 2023 Formula 1 season has progressed.
Piastri has grown in confidence as his rookie F1 season has progressed, culminating in a second-place finish in the F1 Sprint in Belgium.
That on-track development has pleased team boss Andrea Stella, who suggests the Australian is making F1 “look simple”.
There has been development off-track too, with Piastri admitting he’s now more vocal in terms of the engineering he wants from the team each weekend.
“Even when I came to the team at the beginning of the year, yes, I had had no race experience, but I obviously had experience of driving other F1 cars, so I guess I had a different perspective again, from other people,” he told Speedcafe when asked if he’s role during engineering meetings had changed as he gained experience and confidence.
“I think my confidence to be a bit more vocal has definitely improved and I think that’s natural.
“But I think from the beginning of the year, mine and Lando’s comments about the car behaviours are very similar anyway. And that’s not really changed, even with the new updates.
“So, I feel like we’re very much on the same page with that.”
Norris has become the de facto team leader at McLaren owing to his greater experience.
The 23-year-old is in his fifth year of F1 and has scored two podiums already this season.
His position as the clear ‘number one’ within the team was highlighted when upgrades were delivered to his car for the Austrian Grand Prix, an event earlier than Piastri.
While the Australian played the dutiful team-mate in that instance, he suggests the mentality within the team doesn’t leave him second best.
“It doesn’t really require a team leader mentality so much if you’re both saying the same things,” Piastri explained of the dynamic in engineering briefings.
“There’s definitely certain areas that maybe we’re more focused on and stuff but yeah, I feel like I’m at home with the team.
“Once you get some decent results on the board, have some good weekends, of course, your credibility naturally goes up, whether it’s conscious or not.
“So yeah, I feel more confident, but at the same time, I wasn’t afraid to say what I felt with the car, and also say what I felt about myself; [if] I felt like the I couldn’t give good enough feedback on the car because of how I was driving. I wasn’t afraid to say that either.
“I think it naturally increases with time and with results and being able to perform but I feel like it’s sort of been there from the beginning anyways.”
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