Piastri reveals 'excitement' over 10-year McLaren wait
Piastri reveals 'excitement' over 10-year McLaren wait
McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has opened up on his first season in Formula 1, where he managed to claim two podiums and win a sprint race.
The Australian found himself taking on a number of tracks in which he had never driven during his young racing career, but performed solidly to claim ninth in the drivers' championship and help his resurgent McLaren team to finish fourth in the constructors' standings.
Whilst inconsistencies in his performances led to him finishing 108 points behind his much more experienced team-mate Lando Norris, Piastri did become the first driver since Lewis Hamilton to score more than one podium in their rookie season.
He was also one of just two non-Red Bull drivers to win a race of any kind throughout 2023, when he took victory during the sprint race at the Qatar Grand Prix.
Piastri's race-winning hopes
Now, Piastri has explained how he expects to build on his rookie season, and push McLaren closer towards the dominant Red Bull team in 2024.
“It’s definitely been a bigger roller coaster than I expected,” Piastri said.
“I knew there would be ups and downs, maybe not as down at the start or as up at the end.
“But I’ve really learned a lot. I feel like I’ve had basically every situation you could have apart from a championship fight. It’s been a good year in terms of learning both.
“I think, as a team, we’re learning how to compete at the front again, which is exciting. It’s not a position we’ve been in for 10 years. So nice to be having these conversations again, going through these scenarios.
“And, for me, it’s really a privilege to be fighting at the front. So early in my career, there’s people that go their whole life on career that don’t have the opportunity that I’ve had in 22 races. So I’m very grateful for that. And I’m looking forward to so many more years to come where hopefully we can do that more often.”
READ MORE: McLaren boss earmarks star man as WORLD CHAMPION material
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F1 Standings
Drivers
- Oliver Bearman
- Charles Leclerc
- Carlos Sainz
- Lando Norris
- Oscar Piastri
- Pierre Gasly
- Esteban Ocon
- Sergio Pérez
- Max Verstappen
- Alexander Albon
- Logan Sargeant
- Lewis Hamilton
- George Russell
- Nico Hülkenberg
- Kevin Magnussen
- Fernando Alonso
- Lance Stroll
- Valtteri Bottas
- Zhou Guanyu
- Daniel Ricciardo
- Yuki Tsunoda
Races
- Gulf Air Grand Prix of Bahrain 2024
- Saudi Arabian Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Australia 2024
- MSC Cruises Grand Prix of Japan 2024
- Grand Prix of China 2024
- Miami Grand Prix 2024
- Gran Premio dell'Emilia Romagna 2024
- Grand Prix of Monaco 2024
- Grand Prix du Canada 2024
- Gran Premio de España 2024
- Grand Prix of Austria 2024
- Grand Prix of Great Britain 2024
- Grand Prix of Hungary 2024
- Grand Prix of Belgium 2024
- Heineken Dutch Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Italy 2024
- Grand Prix of Azerbaijan 2024
- Grand Prix of Singapore 2024
- Grand Prix of the United States 2024
- Gran Premio de la Ciudad de Mexico 2024
- Grande Prêmio de São Paulo 2024
- Heineken Silver Las Vegas Grand Prix 2024
- Qatar Grand Prix 2024
- Grand Prix of Abu Dhabi 2024
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