After an elongated wait to make his Formula 1 debut, Oscar Piastri was not overawed when it finally arrived.
The 21-year-old qualified 18th in last weekend’s Bahrain Grand Prix in a performance that left him frustrated with a lap on which he said he made too many errors.
Nevertheless, team boss Andrea Stella saw through those errors and was impressed with the underlying pace Piastri displayed.
Stella was also impressed with how his young charger approached the weekend, building up rather than heading out and immediately overstepping the mark.
It was a mature and composed outing, one that hid the nerves that must have been fluttering through him.
“It’s been busy, that’s for sure,” Piastri said when asked by Speedcafe.com about his first weekend as an F1 driver.
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“I’m taking it more or less as I would any other normal race weekend.
“I don’t feel like, sort of, any extra something because [it’s] Formula 1 now; I’m here to do the same job, I’m here to try and get the most out of myself and out of the car, which is the same in everything I’ve raced previously.
“So from that side of things, I think it’s the same.
“Obviously when I’m out of the car, being in this paddock, especially after watching everyone do it last year, I’ve got a new appreciation for it now.
“Just very thankful to be able to do this now,” he added.
“But in terms of how I’m going about it, session to session, day to day, it’s very similar to how I’ve approached my racing previously.”
Piastri retired from his maiden grand prix when electrical gremlins set in on his McLaren MCL60.
Even still, in the 13 racing laps he had, he’d demonstrated his potential by climbing three places, demonstrating good pace, and stringing together a consistent opening stint.
It’s a promising start for the youngster, not one reflected by the scoreboard but one visible to those who care to take more than a cursory glance.
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