PIASTRI F1 COLUMN: A WEEKEND OF FIRSTS

Piastri’s F1 column as published in Auto Action magazine issue 1867 on sale August 10 2023.

It is the F1 summer break and a few good weeks of rest before we all get going again in the run up to Zandvoort and the end of the August.

This is a good chance for us drivers to recharge and prepare for the second half of the season and the remaining 10 races on the calendar.

There are some really demanding races left such as Singapore so I’ll have some physical training mixed in with my time off in order to keep things ticking over.

I’ve got no major plans for the break. It will be nice to meet up with a few friends, go for some meals out and catch up on the cricket, AFL and NBA.

As we had a rare weekend off, I was lucky enough to go to the British MotoGP and watch the Sprint race as a guest of my personal partner, Quad Lock, last weekend. It was awesome to see the bikes, catch up with some of the riders and observe all the pre-race preparation taking place on the grid.

Oscar Piastri leads the F1 field during the Spa Sprint. Photo by Steven Tee / LAT Images

It won’t take me long to be itching to get going again and take on some of the awesome tracks that we still have in store like Suzuka and Austin. It’s also going to be special racing around the streets of Las Vegas for the first time and there should be a fair few Aussies heading over to Singapore, which I’m sure will create a good atmosphere.

I’ve loved the first half of the season. It’s been an amazing learning experience and with every race that passes, it’s more lessons that I can store in the bank for the future. A lot of the tracks have been new to me and I haven’t driven at most of the others for a few years, so I’m picking lots of things up as I take on circuits for the first time in F1 machinery.

It was a productive spell of races before the break. It was fantastic to qualify in the top five for three consecutive GPs at Silverstone, Budapest and Spa-Francorchamps, get a strong haul of points with fourth and fifth at the British and Hungarian grands prix respectively and pick up my first top three in the Sprint race in Belgium.

Sprint Saturday in Spa is a day that I won’t forget in a hurry. To lead my first laps in F1, to start on the front row and to pick up my first trophy were superb moments for me. All those situations will stand me in good stead with my development.

To get out of the car and celebrate with the team, who have welcomed me so warmly into life at McLaren and worked so hard to turn things around from where we are at the start of the season, was special.

Sunday in Spa was over before it begun but it was still a massively important weekend in my career and one that has left me so hungry to fight it out at the sharp end more.

I had some amazing messages via social media, on text and in the post from fans after the last three races. 

I know a lot of people were cheering me on and the reception that I’ve received at some of the fan stages has been sensational. I’m a huge fan of my new song and find it as equally hard to get out of my head.

Thanks for all your support and hope you get a chance to have rest in the summer break too. 

Take care, OP

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