McLaren heads into the weekend third in the constructors’ championship behind runaway leaders Red Bull Racing and Ferrari following the opening two rounds of the season.
It’s a sharp improvement from a year ago when the squad landed in Australia without a point to its name.
Gains during the 2023 season have carried into the current campaign, though they haven’t yet propelled the organisation to the very front of the grid.
Instead, based on evidence of the year’s first two races, McLaren battling Mercedes, half a step behind Ferrari.
“I think being realistic, being in the fight for the third quickest team is probably where we’re at,” Piastri said when asked by Speedcafe about his expectations this weekend.
“I think we were a step closer, to Ferrari at least anyway, in Suadi [Arabia], but still, we don’t quite have enough at the moment.”
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The McLaren MCL38 has many of the quirks of last year’s car.
Strong through highspeed changes of direction, it gives up lap time to its rivals in slower speed sections while it’s inefficient in a straight line.
Albert Park is something of a mix of both Bahrain and Jeddah, with a high-speed blast down Lakeside Drive and slower-speed corners in the first and third sectors.
“I think probably the fight is with Mercedes at the moment, for us,” Piastri opined.
“Hopefully, we can start challenging a bit more later in the year but for now, I think as much as I don’t want to put people’s hopes down at home, I think any more than P5 is going to require some good fortune.”
Piastri was fortunate a year ago, benefitting from a race thrice interrupted by red flags to finish eighth and score his first points in F1.
He scored again in mixed conditions in Monaco before hitting his stride as McLaren introduced upgrades from the Austrian Grand Prix.
His first podium came at the Japanese Grand Prix in Suzuka before becoming an F1 winner in Qatar, when he took pole and won the F1 Sprint.
Upgrades are in train for the MCL38, which aims to improve areas the team didn’t have time to address during its initial development over the off-season, though they won’t be on the car for a number fo races yet.
Until then, Piastri and team-mate Norris are set to battle with Mercedes for ‘best of the rest’ honours, including at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix.
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