"Okay, I can go and do that": McLaren rookie reveals what would be a good first F1 season for him

McLaren rookie Oscar Piastri has revealed that one of his major targets for his rookie season would be to reach a level where he can extract the maximum from his car.

The Australian is in his rookie season with McLaren after spending the 2022 F1 season as an Alpine reserve driver.

Piastri replaced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren after the very popular Australian was unable to match up to Lando Norris in the same team. Before the 2023 F1 Australian GP, Oscar Piastri appeared on the Beyond the Grid podcast on which he was questioned about his pre-season target.

Speaking about his aspirations, the McLaren driver revealed that he wanted to reach a level where he could attract whatever was possible from the car. Talking about his ambitions from his rookie season, he said:

"Just to learn and soak up as much as I can. Compared to the previous racing I've done, experience is a much different factor. In the racing I've done before, being in your second season was considered very experienced and third was almost unheard of."

"Lando is only a year or two older than me and is in his fifth year already, so I think having that experience and building up that bank of knowledge is super important."

He added:

"Results can fluctuate a lot so putting a specific number or target on results is always difficult because it's always changing so much. Obviously, as a team, we've got our targets of where we want to be, which ultimately will feed into what my own targets are."

"To learn as much as I can and get back up to speed, because I haven't raced for a while, is the most important thing. Just putting the right processes in and starting everything in the right way, not building in any bad habits or anything like that."

Finally, he revealed that the aim would be to reach a point where he was able to get the requisite results from the car. He said:

"Ultimately, I want to get to a stage where if we can finish 10th and get a point, I want to say, “okay, I can go and do that,” or if we’re capable of winning the race, I want to say, “I feel capable of winning the race and I’ve done everything I can to achieve that.” Building all those foundations first is what will lead to that point.

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McLaren and Oscar Piastri score first points of the season in Australia

McLaren and Oscar Piastri had a fruitful race in Australia where the team and the driver were able to score the first points of the season.

The team benefitted massively from the Red Flag restart and while other teams like Alpine suffered double DNFs, McLaren scored points with both cars.

The car is still not at the level where it can lead the midfield, however, it is still a step up in terms of performance from the first two races.