Oscar Piastri delivered such a strong 2024 season that he significantly helped his team, McLaren, reclaim a Constructors’ World Championship title, 26 years after their last win in 1998.
The Australian driver, in his second full season with McLaren, secured his first Formula 1 victories – the first in Hungary, the second in Azerbaijan – and amassed 292 points, placing him fourth in the Drivers’ Championship.
In some races, especially from the summer season onward, Oscar also gave his more experienced teammate Lando Norris a tough challenge. What was missing, however, was consistency in performance, mainly due to qualifying sessions where he often struggled compared to the potential of the MCL38.
Norris, for instance, excelled in qualifying, beating Oscar Piastri 21-3 in single-lap performance. This is precisely where the 23-year-old needs to make a leap in quality, as his race pace has always been among the most competitive but was sometimes hindered by difficult recoveries due to tire management issues in traffic (overheating, incorrect usage window due to proximity to other cars).
“This year, I think I made good progress, but there’s still room for improvement,” Oscar Piastri admitted. “The biggest area is qualifying, where I often lost too many positions compared to my potential and that of the car. I don’t think I’ve ever made life easy for myself in the races in this regard. This is the focus for the season: trying to find those last tenths, those last hundredths.”
“In all other aspects, I’ve proven to be competitive and to have improved. So, in this case as well, it’s just about putting everything together because the gaps between cars are now very small or non-existent. If I manage to put it all together, I’ll certainly be on the right path.”
“I think I can improve,” the Aussie continued in an interview with Motorsport.com. “The most important thing for me is that there haven’t been many occasions where it’s been hard to understand where I lost time in single-lap performance. After qualifying in Abu Dhabi, I immediately understood where I went wrong. It’s not about finding more speed but being consistently at the top of my game. When I’ve had the chance to give my best, I’ve always been pretty good. That doesn’t mean there’s no room for growth. The encouraging thing is that the potential has been seen. So, the next step is to use this potential every weekend. If I can achieve that, we’re in for a fun season.”
Leave a Reply