Oscar Piastri heads into this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix weekend as a genuine contender for a race win, and that’s a prospect that excites the McLaren charger.
F1 fans are bracing for a three-way battle in the glitzy Principality, with McLaren and Ferrari, buoyed by recent successes, poised to challenge once again Red Bull and Max Verstappen.
The Scuderia was the first team to break Red Bull’s grip on events this season thanks to Carlos Sainz’s flawless drive and clear-cut win in Melbourne.
Three races later, McLaren followed suit in Miami with Lando Norris achieving an equally compelling victory in Florida and almost beating Verstappen again to the checkered flag last weekend at Imola.
F1’s current competitive balance raises the thrilling possibility of a true three-way fight for the win every race weekend, with each team having a legitimate shot at glory.
Monaco, with its tight layout and unforgiving nature, could be the proving ground for this newly emerged title race. Both McLaren and Ferrari will be looking to capitalize on their recent momentum and potentially steal a march on Red Bull in the fight for the championship.
In only his sophomore season in the sport, thanks to McLaren’s sustained strong development, Piastri finds himself with a realistic shot of following Norris in claiming his maiden landmark win in F1.
“It's exciting,” commented the Australian driver on Thursday in Monaco, quoted by Speedcafe.
“In terms of the approach, it honestly doesn't change that much. Whether you're fighting for 15th, for 10th, for first, you're trying to get the most out of the car you've got.
“It's just a little bit more fun when you know that, if you get everything right, you can win.
“So it's not changed the world from that side of things. It's just a bit of a boost when you're fighting for wins and podiums.”
©McLaren
McLaren's resurgence as a race winner is exciting news for F1, but Piastri acknowledges the challenges faced by a team that hasn’t been in the limelight for over a decade.
Adapting to this new environment and mindset means stepping up team papaya’s execution and rigor. And there are still a few loose ends that need tightening.
At Imola, a grid penalty for a mistake in qualifying dropped Piastri from second to fifth on the grid, a setback that significantly complicated his task on race day and capped his result at P4, just off the podium.
“It wasn't just one thing, there was sort of a combination of a few little things that unfortunately led to that penalty, which we've definitely gone through,” Piastri explained.
“Some things that are reasonably easy to fix, some things that require a bit more thinking. And I think that comes with the unfamiliar territory of where we are now.
“It's been a long time since we've been consistently at this pace – even last year, we were fighting for podiums in certain races, but wins still looked unrealistic.
“I think it's really been two weekends where we've gone into a race thinking we could win.
“I mean, even Miami, we didn't think we could win, and it just turned out that we did.
“So it kind of comes with that. We've still got a lot of learning to do and readjusting because we have been in this position before as a team, it's just been a little while.”
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