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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri has said that not racing at the front with the British team in his first season will take the spotlight away from him and give him time to learn and improve his craft.
The Australian moved to the Woking-based team at the start of the 2023 season after being a reserve driver for their rival Alpine in 2022. However, in his first race in Bahrain, Piastri lasted only 12 laps before retiring with a mechanical issue.
On the Beyond The Grid podcast, Piastri said:
"Of course, I want to be as high up on the grid as I can be so I'm definitely not saying that I would prefer to be down the back or not fighting for points but in some ways, it does take the spotlight off a little bit. I think a lot of people have high expectations of McLaren and we have high expectations of ourselves to try and be fighting for points and for this year, to try and get into the top four teams.
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"Aston Martin is now part of that top four so it’s a bigger challenge, but still one that we're trying to achieve. If there's any time not to be where we want to be, the first few races are probably the time to have it."
"I think there's obviously always room to improve" - Oscar Piastri
Oscar Piastri said that there's a lot of room for him to improve, as he only had one and a half days of testing ahead of his debut race in Bahrain.
He said:
"I think there's obviously always room to improve and especially with one and a half days of testing, I think you're naturally going to still be evolving at the start of the year. I feel like I've got a good idea of what I need to do to get the most out of the car and how the car needs to be driven.
"It's just putting it into action and getting it to become second nature to drive. There are still improvements to make, but I feel like I've got a good idea and I think it's going in the right direction."
After three races in 2023, it looks like Oscar Piastri is closer to his teammate Lando Norris in terms of performance, which bodes well for McLaren's chances this season.
