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Oscar Piastri’s Rise From the Ashes Leaves Papaya Army Hailing “Underappreciated” Pit Crew

Published 11/08/2023, 8:51 AM EST

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Oscar Piastri has been on a steady rise in the world of F1, thanks to the talent and unwavering determination shown by him, so far. However, following the recent Brazilian Grand Prix, which saw him rise from a challenging race start. The Papaya Army fans have rather hailed the behind-the-scenes and underappreciated heroes, the McLaren pit crew.

Piastri’s debut in F1 has been quite an eventful chapter in his life. Not only has he gained so much experience in driving an F1 car. But he has also got to learn about race tracks that he has never raced before in. Such as the Circuit of The Americas, Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace, and the newly built Las Vegas Street Circuit.

However, the Brazilian Grand Prix wasn’t too kind to him, as he suffered a lap 1 incident that saw his car damaged right at turn 1. The hard-working McLaren mechanics swiftly repaired Piastri’s damaged MCL 60 after promptly assessing the extent of the damage, enabling Piastri to compete. This became necessary as the start of the Brazilian Grand Prix had been red-flagged due to the involvement of too many cars in a crash.

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McLaren pit crew emerges as the real heroes as fans praise their underappreciated work

After McLaren’s social media post, which unveiled an unheard team radio conversation from their mechanics as per a Reddit post, fans online have enthusiastically lavished them with praise. Granted, that F1 teams often share team radio communication for drivers, it’s a rare treat to hear directly from the team mechanics in this manner. Which is the fans on social media, especially on Reddit, have also praised McLaren for showing this.

man, the work pit crews do is underappreciated – The comment highlights the perfect sentiment about pit crews’ contribution in F1. Especially when considering how much pressure the mechanics are under and how punishing even a small error can be, for the entire team. Truly underappreciated people in F1!

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I like that it’s “Oscar’s car” and not “car 81” – This fan’s comment highlights how the McLaren pit crew referred to Oscar Piastri’s MCL 60 as ‘Oscar’s car’, rather than ‘car 81’, which is his racing number in F1, reflecting their personal connection.

I love how these guys work under pressure! – Most of the fans would agree with this comment. Not only is it impressive how pit crews can work under such immense pressure. But also how consistently they are able to do it. Had it not been for the McLaren mechanics, Piastri might not have been able to rise from the ashes at the Brazilian Grand Prix.

Daniel Ricciardo Sheds Enmity With Oscar Piastri to Celebrate Aussie Heritage in Brazil Showdown

Seriously crazy that they got all that done. Pit crews never get the proper attention and appreciation. Really glad McLaren released this – This comment clearly highlights how much the fans appreciate McLaren releasing the never-before-heard radio talks of the pit crews. Kudos to them!

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Amazing effort by so many teams, really dislike how Oscar & Danny started a lap down, especially with how many cars didn’t finish the race anyways. – Turns out that it wasn’t just the McLaren pit crews who were busy working on the repairs. Absolutely the true heroes are the pit crew members in an F1 team!

Incredible work by both McLaren and AT to get the cars back in the race. It sucks they were a lap down or they could have actually been competitive. – This comment highlights how unlucky McLaren and Alpha Tauri were at the Brazilian Grand Prix. With the pit crews of both the teams working hard, perhaps Oscar Piastri and Daniel Ricciardo could have been fighting in the top 8.

Reminds me of Hungary 2020 teamwork by RB mechanics – A throwback to one of the most memorable teamwork moments from recent years. This comment pays homage to the 2020 Hungarian Grand Prix by comparing the McLaren pit crews from the recent Brazilian Grand Prix. During the 2020 Hungarian GP, Max Verstappen crashed out during the pre-race, but recovered in time, thanks to an unbelievable job by the Red Bull mechanics!

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WATCH THIS STORY | How Oscar Piastri Has Made a Scintillating Rise to the Pinnacle of Motorsport

Piastri may not have gotten a good haul of points at the Brazilian Grand Prix. Yet this gritty show of never giving up has left the Papaya Army hailing the underappreciated McLaren pit crew. Thanks to the team’s decision to post their team radio talk on social media, fans online were able to get a genuine glimpse of the mechanics’ hard work in F1.

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Written by:

Adhiraj Dhyani

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Adhiraj Dhyani is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports. He kick-started his online writing journey on Drivetribe, where he passionately covered F1 and automobile content. Adhiraj's love for Formula 1 dates back to 2015, and he's an ardent supporter of Sebastian Vettel as well as Lewis Hamilton.
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Edited by:

Aishwary Gaonkar