The livery season is escalating as we approach the preseason testing in Bahrain. And coming in hot yesterday was McLaren, arguably overshadowing Aston Martin’s same-day launch. With its special unveiling of the McLaren MCL60, the team celebrates its glorious 60 years in the competition, which is undoubtedly the pinnacle of motorsports, having won eight constructors’ championships and 12 drivers’ championships.

During the launch, the team also introduced its rookie driver of the season, Oscar Piastri, for whom they had to go to great lengths against Alpine. The team hopes for miracles from the Australian, but the driver’s statement during the launch wouldn’t be something that the papaya team would have liked, since it possibly highlights the undertone of a lack of confidence and self-belief.

When asked about what he expects in the rookie season, as quoted by Turkish Motorsport.com, Piastri said, “I have no clear expectation in terms of results, frankly I will try to learn as much as I can learn. The expectations depend a bit on where we are as a team, so I think it is important for me to learn and accelerate as quickly as possible.”

“Since I haven’t been competing for a while, I might feel a little rusty at the beginning, so I’ll try to get used to it quickly and everything else will be a bonus for me,” he added, as he has already low balled himself into the competition despite coming in as a former F2 champion in his rookie year in 2021.

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Piastri appears to be the rookie with the strongest pre-F1 career, with teams vying for his services. With such statements, the rivals will only find it easy to make things difficult for him and the team.

Oscar Piastri on learning barriers at McLaren

The Aussie is coming in place of Daniel Ricciardo, who himself wished that his replacement would learn from his time at the papaya team. Ricciardo himself had struggled a lot with the team, which the new team principal, Andrea Stella, also hopes Piastri learns from.

Given he has had little time with McLaren’s car and no overall driving for a year, Piastri believes he will be rusty. But when asked if the testing would be helpful to him, he said, “Yes, frankly, there is not much time to get used to the vehicle. In addition, the vehicle is new to the team, so engineers will want to run a program to get to know the vehicle better.”

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The changes in the car might not be huge for Lando Norris, but they would be for the Aussie. With a lot of pressure already on him, Piastri might have tried to tone it down so that any good result is seen as a surprise.