Oscar Piastri has emphasized the importance of maintaining a "completely open" relationship with his McLaren teammate Lando Norris to drive the team’s development and success.
Last year, McLaren faced a challenging start to its season, with the outfit scoring only three top-ten finishes in the first eight races.
This shortfall coincided with rookie Piastri's initial adjustment to F1’s demanding environment.
However, the young Aussie gradually adapted and improved his form as McLaren initiated a significant upgrade program for its MCL60 car.
The culmination of these efforts came in the Qatar Grand Prix, where Piastri emerged victorious in the sprint race, a first triumph on merit in his burgeoning F1 career.
The 22-year-old’s stellar performance in 2023 inevitably raises the prospect of a more closed-off dynamic forming between Piastri and Norris as each driver protects their individual positions and opportunities.
However, Piastri recognizes the importance of maintaining open communication and mutual respect with Norris, highlighting that their collaboration is essential for McLaren's continued progress and ultimately for its success.
By fostering a supportive and transparent relationship, the duo can effectively share insights and feedback, allowing them to push each other and propel the team to greater heights.
"The relationship is still exactly the same," Piastri told Motorsport.com. "Of course, we're not winning at the moment. We're a lot closer than we were, but we still need to find that bit more to challenge and to beat Red Bull.
"So, it's still very important for us to work together and help the team develop the car.
"The team back at MTC and the engineers here are all doing their best to try and help things. But if me and Lando have got any additional info or directions on things, then anything we can do to help is going to help both of us.
"In terms of data and stuff like that, it's all completely open. There are no barriers or anything and that won't change.
"We just need to make sure that our racing is respectful. But apart from that, it's all good."
©McLaren
Looking back on McLaren’s lean start to its 2023 campaign, Piastri says it didn’t avoid the expected performance comparison between Norris and himself, but he reckons that it did allow him to get up to speed with slightly less pressure.
"I was still always going to be compared to Lando, whether we were fighting for last and second last or first and second,” he said. “So, those comparisons were always still going to be there.
"But maybe in terms of outright results, maybe there wasn't quite the pressure to achieve big points or podiums or whatever straight away. But that comparison was still there.
"I was still trying to learn as quickly as I could and try and help the team the best I could. It didn't really lessen things."
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