Piastri hails personal progress, but still sees 'room for improvement'

Oscar Piastri says he’s satisfied with his personal development over the past year, hailing his progress in F1 but insisting there’s “still room for improvement”.

The McLaren driver was unquestionably the sport’s revelation last year, his maiden season in Formula 1, performing on a par with teammate Lando Norris in he second half of 2023 and winning his first race – albeit a sprint event – in Qatar.

But Piastri’s stock has continued to trend higher this year, an ascent that saw the 23-year-old conquer in Austria last month his first Grand Prix win, while he finished runner-up to Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton last time out in Belgium.

“I think I've made good progress on things that I wanted to improve from last year,” Piastri told Speedcafe.

“Some of the goals I had from the end of last season, I think I've done a good job of tackling and made clear steps in some of those areas – I would say all of those areas.

“There's still of course room for improvement to go, but I think it's been a good step forward.”

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While positive on his own development, especially in terms of his tyre and race management, Piastri acknowledged that McLaren’s ability to produce a car capable of challenging for race wins has been the biggest factor in terms of his progress and his subsequent results.

“I think the big thing that has been largely positive, from both a team point of view, and from a personal point of view, the team have given Lando and I a car that's capable of winning races.

“The biggest positive obviously is that we've thrust ourselves into contention with a car that's incredibly quick. That's really the biggest thing.”

McLaren's resurgence has been nothing short of spectacular. The team currently sits a close second in the Constructors' Championship, just 42 points adrift of Red Bull with 10 races remaining.

However, despite his team’s upward trajectory, Piastri remains his own harshest critic, identifying areas where he and the Woking-based outfit can improve to maximize their potential.

“There's kind of the feeling of a few missed opportunities with some things that were out of our control,” he reflected.

“Like Miami (a performance he rates among his best but where a Safety Car cost him a chance of a stronger result), the track limits in Austria – I mean, technically that one was in my control, but it wasn't really given how it was deleted.

“And then a few that were in our control, Silverstone being the most recent one; Canada a little bit, to an extent Imola with the qualifying penalty.

“So I think largely positive. But I feel like there's potential to do even better, which is obviously a very exciting position to be in.”

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