PIASTRI F1 COLUMN: Well and truly on the road

Piastri’s F1 column as published in Auto Action magazine issue 1884 on sale April 15 2024.

Between racking up points, birthdays and even hesitation revelations, it has been a busy time for our young F1 star Oscar Piastri.

It is my first time racing at the Shanghai International Circuit this weekend and it will be the same situation in a few weeks at Imola for the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix.

We can obviously practise on the simulator back at the factory but there is nothing like getting used to it in the flesh and getting laps on the board in the car.

When you’ve never raced at a track before, it’s all about learning, lap after lap, and building up the knowledge. It makes the practice sessions critical for confidence and feel.

Most of my race weekends were like this last year and it means you have to hit the ground running and adapt fast.

China is going to be a tricky one due to the fact that it will be the first Sprint race on the F1 calendar this year too. That means I’ll only have one practice session, on Friday morning, before we get under way with Sprint Quali on Friday afternoon.

(Interesting fact: I actually have some Chinese heritage in the family. My great great grandfather was Chinese so I think that makes me 1/16 Chinese – although I may have got that calculation wrong!).

I’ve heard a lot about the super-high g-force turns in the middle sector and I’m looking forward to taking them on in F1 machinery. It’s always special to push the cars to the limit.

We have the slightly revised format for Sprint weekends this year with the Sprint race itself and grand prix qualifying on Saturday, so it will be interesting to see how that goes.

Four consecutive points finishes on the spin has been a solid start to the season and it would be good to keep that run going with another positive weekend in China.

That’s put us in decent shape in the Constructors’ Championship and that consistency will be crucial throughout the season.

Things didn’t quite click  in Suzuka to the same level as they did in 2023, but it has still been a very encouraging start to the season for the team and we can look ahead with optimism.

We know we have some areas to work on but the car is competitive and we are in a much stronger position that we were this time last year, which is down to the efforts of everyone at the factory.

In the break between Japan and China, I’ve been back at MTC for engineering meetings and simulator practice as well as having some training sessions and some rest after a busy few weeks.

I was lucky enough to spend a bit of time at the Great Barrier Reef after the Australian Grand Prix, learning more about some of the coral restoration initiatives that are being put in place by McLaren and the Great Barrier Reef Foundation – and I also managed to spend a few hours exploring Tokyo before we headed on to Suzuka.

It feels like a while ago now, but given I haven’t done a column since, the reception in Melbourne in March around the Australian Grand Prix was incredible and I feel lucky to be a home driver with so much support. Thanks to everyone who turned out and cheered for me.

Thank you also for all the birthday wishes that I received at the start of the month when I turned 23. It was a really nice moment to receive a Michael Jordan-themed cake from the team on the morning before qualifying and I had some lovely messages sent to me online. I’m a big fan of the Last Dance documentary on Netflix and loved learning about Michael Jordan’s mentality and drive to push those around him on.

Enjoy the racing and I’ll be back with my next column soon. 

Head to Oscar’s official website for the latest news and his new range of merchandise store.oscarpiastri.com 

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