McLaren debut already showed Piastri 'where to improve'

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri enjoyed a productive day of testing with his new team at Yas Marina, and the young charger already has "a good idea" where he needs to improve for next year.

Labeled as the final day of running for Formula 1 in 2022, Tuesday's Pirelli tyre test was also the first day of action for several newcomers who kicked off their 2023 preparations.

Piastri hailed his long-awaited public debut with McLaren as "a good first day" during which he gathered a lot of knowledge over the course of his 123 laps, including some insight into where he needs to improve for next year.

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"We did a lot of laps and experimented a lot which is exactly what today is all about," said the 21-year-old. "I've got a good idea where to improve for next year.

"I really enjoyed it, it’s nice to be back out on track finally and experience the 2022 cars.

"I’m looking forward to next year now, I’ll be in the factory next week to meet the whole team, after that I'll take a short break before getting back to work with McLaren to prepare for next year."

McLaren Racing executive director Andrea Stella underlined Piastri's integration with the team as the day's main task along with getting a maximum number of miles under his belt.

"It’s been a productive day of testing here in Abu Dhabi at the post-season test, where we’ve managed to complete a lot of important work," said the McLaren engineer.

"Firstly, it’s been great to get Oscar into the MCL36 and start his integration into the team. The main objective for him today has been to get as much mileage under his belt as possible, and to start to get him used to working with the team.

"On Lando’s side, it was useful to gather information on these Pirelli tyres ahead of next year."

Before heading off on a well-deserved holiday, Norris put in a final "useful" day of running.

"It was good to get some time with these tyres to help Pirelli’s development of them into 2023 and to gather important data on how they operate," said the Briton.

"It was a productive day to round out the season. Big thanks to Pirelli and the team for their hard work.

"We’ll now head into the winter focused on preparing for the 2023 season and doing everything we can to start next year on the front foot."

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