F1 team boss reveals KEY Piastri turning point
F1 team boss reveals KEY Piastri turning point
McLaren CEO Zak Brown is full of praise for driver Oscar Piastri, and his progress in Formula 1.
Entering the sport as a rookie last season, the Aussie endured a difficult start to the season as he and team-mate Lando Norris battled with an underdeveloped car.
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But heading into his home grand prix in Melbourne, Piastri is in a much stronger position than 2023, currently sitting fifth in the standings with 16 points, ahead of Norris.
The 22-year-old has taken the fight to his team-mate so far this season, and speaking with the media in Australia, team boss Brown – who recently signed a new contract to keep him as McLaren CEO until 2030 – said that Piastri had lost his ‘rookie stripes’.
Brown praises 'mature' Piastri
"He continues to get faster and faster,” Brown said. “Obviously, we're two races in, but what we're seeing is he's got his rookie stripes off now. And so on Fridays he gets on the pace right away.
“He doesn't really make mistakes. He's extremely fast. I think for the first two races of the year, it's the closest driver pairing in the field.
“And that's exactly what you want as a team. And I think they're pushing each other, they're pushing the team. So I'm very excited about our driver line-up for the foreseeable future."
McLaren failed to score a point in the opening two rounds of 2023, and sat bottom of the constructors’ standings when they came to Melbourne last year. This season is a different story, with the team as high as third in the early championship standings.
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“Last year was also a very difficult start to the year,” Brown added.
“So in addition, add in the pressure of being a rookie and then coming to your first home race and you're also in a race car that's not that strong.
“So I think he's now had a year under his belt, he knows what to expect. He's got a much better race car that he's sitting in, and so he's definitely enjoying it. And nice to see him maturing.
“He's already a mature young man, but you can definitely see a year on he's got a higher level of confidence because he knows what to expect. And I think that'll just drive even better performance with the helmet on.”
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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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