Piastri eyeing off points haul in final F1 Sprint weekend

Oscar Piastri and his rapid McLaren MCL60 head for the legendary Sao Paulo track this weekend as he looks to further entrench his spot in the top-ten of the Drivers Championship.

TheFormula 1 rookie from Brighton sits in ninth spot with some space to burn, 31 points over Alpine’s Pierre Gasly and 64 points behind George Russell of Mercedes.

Read Piastri’s exclusive AUTO ACTION column in the latest issue via this link.

It’s another new track for Piastri and an historic one of the McLaren racing team with its Ayrton Senna connection, who won two races there in 1991 and 1993 in a Honda and Ford powered McLaren respectively, with his ’91 win coming in a championship year.

“It’s an old-school track with lots of history and character and one of the classics that I’ve grown up watching,” Piastri said. 

“The significance and honour of driving a McLaren in Brazil, given its association with the great Ayrton Senna, is not lost on me and it will be particularly special to represent the team in his home country.”

“The circuit’s twisting and undulating layout is cool too. The banking, camber changes and undulation make this such a unique proposition.”

Piastri had a few good battles in Mexico last weekend and carried some slight damage to take points with a P8. Image: Mark Sutton / Sutton Images.

With Piastri having three rounds and four point scoring races left on his rookie agenda, he’s eyeing off another points haul on a track he’s not physically taken to, something he’s done on seven occasions in his maiden F1 season: (Melbourne, Hungary, Netherlands, Singapore, Japan, Qatar, and Mexico).

“It’s been a busy few weeks for the whole team with three consecutive races in America, Mexico and now Brazil and it’s great to be at another new track for me.

“I’ve never raced here but the atmosphere is known for being electric and I am expecting no different this week.

Piastri takes a track walk in Sao Paulo ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix. Image: LAT

“I’ve had some great moments this year on Sprint Saturdays like Spa and Qatar and so, I’m looking forward to another… and it gives us more chances for points!

“The track should allow for overtaking opportunities and some good wheel-to-wheel racing which will be fun.”

Oscar gets his frost look at the Interlagos track on November 4 at 1:13am AEDT before it’s straight into qualifying at 5am.

The Sprint Shootout is on November 5 and 1am, with the Sprint Race on at 5:30am, with the Brazilian Grand Prix taking place on November 6 at 4am.

Read Piastri’s full exclusive column in AUTO ACTION’s latest issue #1873, out now in its digital form downloadable right here, and available in all good newsagents and stockists near you on Thursday, continuing on as Australia’s most trusted independent voice in motorsport.

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Download the full Formula 1 Sao Paulo Grand Prix event guide HERE with track stats and facts and a full event schedule, plus our extensive driver profiles.

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