Piastri: 'I learned a lot on the sidelines of Formula 1'

Rookie Oscar Piastri is set to start the season with McLaren. In a press briefing that included GPblog, the Australian talks about the learning process he has already gone through in Formula 1 and what he expects from himself this year.

On being a F1 driver now, Piastri said it feels less like a dream and more like reality. Among other things, the unveiling of McLaren's new car, the MCL60, contributed to this.

Role as reserve driver

Piastri was expected to have a spot on the grid last year. Instead, he filled the role of Alpine's reserve driver in 2022. Incidentally, that was an excellent learning experience for the 21-year-old:

"Obviously as a racing driver, I want to be racing all the time, so having the year without racing was obviously not ideal, but I think I tried to make the most of what I had last year trying to learn as much as I could about the F1 environment outside of the driving. And also trying to learn as much as I could where I could. So I think I learned some things that I wouldn't necessarily have learned elsewhere last year, but definitely, I'm looking forward to getting stuck in again and going racing."

No expectations for 2023

McLaren finished fifth in the constructors' championship last year and achieved a podium with Lando Norris. Piastri said he cannot yet make a judgement on this year's potential results. His focus is mainly on learning and gaining experience.

"I think in terms of results, there are not really any set expectations. Obviously, I'm going to try and learn as much as I can, and it depends on where we are as a team. I think for me learning as much as I can, obviously getting up to speed as quickly as I can. There's going be an element of rust there at the beginning, having not raced for a while now."