Oscar Piastri hoping for a cleaner first lap at the 2023 F1 Australian GP

Oscar Piastri is hoping for a cleaner start to the race at the 2023 F1 Australian GP after a first-lap contact ruined his previous race. The Australian put together a stunning qualifying session in Jeddah, the second race of the season. In a McLaren that is widely heralded as an under-developed car, Piastri was able to secure a top 10 grid position and his first Q3 appearance.

The race, however, did not pan out as well as he had hoped as a first-lap contact with Pierre Gasly forced him to pit with damage on his front wing. Looking forward to his home race in Australia, Piastri is hoping for a much cleaner start and to build on the momentum gained in Jeddah.

Speaking ahead of the race weekend during a press conference, the young Australian said:

"I think qualifying especially gave me a lot of confidence in the way that we're working is the right way. I think I didn't really change that much from Bahrain, but the results in Qualifying were much different, obviously getting to Q3 this time. So yeah, it was a nice confidence boost. Sunday, obviously nice to see the end, at least."

He added:

"But yeah, I think on the first lap I probably could have done a few things differently and maybe kept myself out of trouble a bit better, but I think the rest of the race, it's nice to get a race distance under my belt at least. And definitely some learning and getting rid of some of the rust still."

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Oscar Piastri hoping Albert Park's similarities to Jeddah help McLaren

Oscar Piastri is hoping that the similarities between Albert Park and the tarmac at Jeddah will help McLaren this weekend.

Speaking on the team's prospects for the race, the Australian said:

"We'll try our best obviously. I think compared to the previous two tracks here should be more like Saudi, I hope. Tarmac’s quite similar. The layout is a bit more similar to Saudi compared to Bahrain. So, hopefully, that is good for us."

He added:

"But yeah, I think, you know, Saudi we showed we can get into Q3 and fight for the back-end of points on our good days. So hopefully, we can just have a clean race and my front wing doesn't wipe out Lando, this time. And we'll see what we can do."

McLaren will be hoping to capitalize on their strong qualifying performances in Melbourne as the team hopes to score their first points of the season this weekend.