Oscar Piastri has vowed to keep building on the undeniable step forward he has taken this season in F1 on the back of his McLaren team’s own progress.
While his maiden victory in Hungary earlier this month was an outstanding achievement, it’s the consistent pace and resilience displayed throughout the campaign that truly highlights Piastri’s form.
Furthermore, the 23-year-old has often been the standout driver at McLaren, even overshadowing his more experienced teammate, Lando Norris.
This was the case in last weekend’s Belgian Grand Prix which the Aussie concluded on the podium after another solid drive.
“The last few weeks have been very strong from my side,” Piastri acknowledged. “Honestly, the whole season's been pretty good.
“A couple of weekends in the middle of the year were a bit tricky; Japan and China mainly were pretty tough and obviously Barcelona.
“I feel like all the other races have been quite strong, just we've had a lot of things that haven't been going our way in some ways, whether it's interesting track limit penalties or crashes or mistakes, there's always kind of been just things.”
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Piastri has indeed faced his fair share of challenges. A five-place grid penalty at Imola, a missed opportunity in Monaco, and a controversial track limits penalty in Austria have all tested his resilience.
The British Grand Prix proved to be another missed opportunity for Piastri and McLaren, with a suboptimal strategy costing team papaya a potential victory.
But the always calm and composed Australian has taken it in his stride and continued to display impressive raw pace and determination.
©McLaren
“The last few weekends have been able to tidy it up,” he commented.
“I've taken a step forward from last year, definitely, and think in these tricky kind of races like [Belgium], last year I was struggling.
“I've made good progress and obviously the car is very quick as well, so I feel like I'm gaining some nice momentum, which is good.
“But I know how quickly it can turn around and go the other way as well, so [I'm] just keep trying to build on it, but feel like I'm in a strong place.”
Like his colleagues, Piastri will resume his season at Zandvoort at the end of August. He currently sits fourth in the Drivers’ standings with 167 points, or 32 points behind Norris, the runner-up in the championship.
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