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“That’s What I Grew Up With”: With a Tough Task Ahead, Unafraid Oscar Piastri Ready To Put the Pedal to the Metal

Published 06/21/2023, 5:17 AM EDT

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via Reuters

Lewis Hamilton‘s turbo-hybrid era stint at Mercedes can be easily named one of the best runs in F1 history and Mercedes extracted every bit of their investment on him. And without a doubt, the present generation’s pilot proving every penny invested in him is Oscar Piastri. So far this season, Piastri has demonstrated his driving prowess using a non-competitive MCL60. However, the Melbourne driver is prepared to step up his game after experiencing some nightmares and just his first error of the season at the Canadian GP.

Oscar Piastri had won the F2 and the F3 junior-level championships before joining Formula 1. The Melburnian was exceptional during his time competing at the junior level, claiming his F2 championship with undisputed dominance. However, although his time with McLaren hasn’t been what he’d hoped, Piastri may have an opportunity to earn points despite all of his difficulties and frustrations as the Formula 1 circus enters its ninth round at the Austrian GP.

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In addition, the Woking-based company intends to come up in the next races with its upgraded MCL60. Given that the Austrian Grand Prix will be the second sprint weekend of the year, with two qualifying sessions and one practice session—a format that Piastri, 22, is accustomed to from his time racing in the junior leagues the 22-year-old was discovered to be fearless and prepared to push his car to its limits.

Being well aware of the track in Austria, Piastri told Motorsports. Total,It’s going to be tricky. I think that Austria is a track where we have all raced many times, including the rookies.” Making things clearer while differentiating between the tracks of Austria with other layouts, the 22-year-old added, ” That should make things a little easier, because there are fewer curves and the walls are also a bit further away. But yes, it’s never easy when you only have one training session.”

However, being unafraid of the upcoming challenges, Piastri continued and said, ” But that’s what I grew up with in the junior categories and in Formula 3 and Formula 2. So it’s not that unusual for me. But yes, we’ll do our best.”

Fans have seen a few rookie drivers during the current season. However, only Piastri managed to go without making a mistake so far, earning high accolades from the entire team. Although, being so agile for the season so far he still committed a mistake at the Canadian Grand Prix and thinks “That’s a shame.”

What did Oscar Paistri say following his crash at the Canadian GP Quali?

Even though Piastri sits in P14 and has only 5 points, the stats don’t do his talent justice. Piastri occasionally had luck bringing the draggy MCL 60 up toward the top 10. However, the McLaren lads experienced the crash mishaps during the Canadian GP only to be yet another letdown.

Where Norris had previously expressed his annoyance, Piastri too appears overwhelmed. In the last round of the qualifying, the F2 champion skidded and made contact with the barriers, ending what may have been a successful day for McLaren and bringing out the red flag.

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via Reuters

The Melbournian started the race from P8(thanks to Hulkenberg’s penalty) and finished at P11 as a result. After the qualifying a disappointed Piastri was found to be quoting at the Mclaren’s official website, “P9 and not the way I wanted to end qualifying. I don’t know how much more there would have been there, in terms of performance but you never want to end qualifying that way and give the team more work.”

He added, ” I certainly appreciate the work they’ll put in overnight to get us ready for tomorrow. Otherwise, I think we had a strong qualifying overall, making good decisions at the right time. It’s just a shame it ended like that.”

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WATCH THIS STORY: Is Oscar Piastri Already Justifying His Talent By Performing Better Than Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren?

Do you believe that Piastri and Norris will showcase their full ability when McLaren does indeed introduce the upgraded MCL60?

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Written by:

Aditya Srivastava

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Aditya Srivastava is an F1 writer at EssentiallySports with over two years of writing experience. He developed a keen interest in the sport after the unforgettable Abu Dhabi 2021 race. As a graduate of a premier institute, Aditya is committed to producing high-quality content that is engaging, informative, and accurate.
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Edited by:

Varunkumaar Chelladurai