Piastri regaining confidence after racing hiatus

Australian Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri says that he is rapidly gaining confidence in the top tier and shaking off the rust that has lingered in his driving after he spent 2022 on the sidelines. JOSH NEVETT REPORTS.

After failing to finish in the Bahrain season opener, Piastri bounced back with a 15th-place finish in Saudi Arabia, which ranked him above McLaren teammate Lando Norris.

Seeing the chequered flag at Jeddah Corniche Circuit marked a milestone for Piastri, given it was the first time he’s traveled the full distance in F1.

Unsurprisingly, all the local hype heading into the Australian Grand Prix has surrounded Melbourne-born Piastri, who is still adjusting to life in the fast lane.

“It all happened pretty quickly in Bahrain, to be honest… the driver parade, laps of the grid and then helmet on. It was nice to get the first one out of the way,” Piastri said.

“It was nice to get a full race distance under my belt.

“Qualifying especially gave me a lot of confidence that the way we are working is the right way. I didn’t change much from Bahrain but the results were a lot different (making it to Q3).

“I felt fine after the race. My neck was sore because Jeddah is tough but I felt good. With more laps I will get used to it. Every lap I do in the car I’m getting more used to it, every race start, it’s (rust) going away.”

With a renewed sense of self-belief and the promise of a raucously supportive home crowd, Piastri is eager to chase an even better result at Albert Park on Sunday.

“It’s very, very special to race in my home country and hometown as well. I played Aussie footy and cricket on some of the paddocks around the track.

“It’s been a busy week, we’ve been managing it very well. Having Mark (Webber) in my corner is very useful and the team have experience with Daniel (Ricciardo).

“We will try our best. Compared to the previous two tracks, this will be more similar to Saudi Arabia, hopefully that’s good for us.”

Piastri will hit the track for the first time tomorrow when the Formula 1 field emerges for Practice 1 at 12:30pm AEDT.

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