Piastri unfazed by 'element of expectation' as F1 rookie

Oscar Piastri's impressive track record in motorsport's junior series conferred a high profile to the McLaren rookie, but the Aussie insists he's unfazed by the "element of expectation" ahead of his F1 debut.

From the outset of his career, Piastri has been a man on the move. The 21-year-old took no prisoners on his way up the ladder, achieving a hat trick as he won consecutive titles in Formula Renault Eurocup, in Formula 3 and in Formula 2.

The Aussie was forced to sit out 2022, although his contract dealings with Alpine and move to McLaren kept his name in the headlines.

Has he been feeling the pressure ahead of his first F1 race as one of the most prominent and promising young guns to graduate to the big time?

"I think in terms of my junior results, obviously it has been my ticket into F1," he told the media in Bahrain.

"For me, it's only a good thing that I can look back at with confidence, and I think regarding the contract situation last year, firstly it is closed and pretty clear cut, so I don't think that aspect in particular adds [any pressure].

"There's obviously an element of expectation, but that is to be expected for all rookies when we are one of 20 drivers in Formula 1.

"There's always going to be a lot of eyes on us, so I don't think that's really been affected too much."

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Unfortunately, based on McLaren's low-key form in pre-season testing, Piastri could be facing a challenging baptism of fire come next week's curtain-raiser in Bahrain.

As an Alpine junior, Piastri spent 2022 embedded with the Enstone squad, so he was quite familiar with the inner workings of an F1 team when he entered the McLaren family.

But the contrasts between life inside a tight-knit Formula 2 team and the scale of an F1 outfit required an inevitable period of adjustment.

"It's definitely a step up, and I think coming from the junior categories, the size of the team is a lot bigger by a magnitude of 10 or more," Piastri explained.

"That side of things is taking a bit of getting used to, just trying to remember the hundreds and hundreds of people.

"Also, being one of two drivers, in a team that big, where you make your own car and don't just get given the car by a manufacturer for the series, is a nice privilege to have and it is nice to be able to have some input into that."

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