“We’ve learned to stop predicting”: Oscar Piastri letting faith take course with McLaren’s upgrades ahead of maiden Imola F1 race

Oscar Piastri reckons it will be hard to predict where McLaren will stand in the pecking order after their upgrades. Despite the victory in Miami for Lando Norris, the Australian felt their rivals are bringing similar upgrades which could shake up the pecking order.

Lando Norris spoke to media ahead of the Imola weekend suggesting that McLaren were third in the pecking order, in terms of their car performance. The Briton felt that the Miami victory was a combination of luck with the safety car and a strategy that paid off. On the other hand, Oscar Piastri finished in the bottom half of the grid but had a decent pace all weekend long. He felt his teammate’s assessment was fair and it was difficult to tell if they were third or further up.

Acknowledging Ferrari’s aggressive upgrade this weekend, the Australian felt China and Miami were weekends where they originally expected to struggle. The duo managed good performances in the sprints and the races, making many believe McLaren could challenge the Red Bull. Norris’ MCL38 received the complete upgrade package whereas Oscar Piastri had only fifty percent of the package on his car. In Imola, he is expected to get the remaining components to match his teammate.

Asked by Sportskeeda if Norris’ assessment of their position in the pecking order was fair and accurate, Oscar Piastri said:

“It's very, very hard to know. You know, I think we went into China and Miami thinking we would struggle a bit more and they've probably been our most competitive weekends. I mean, Miami certainly was. So I think we've kind of learned to stop predicting where we're going to be and just see how we go. I think it'll be tough. I think obviously, you know, Ferrari have got some upgrades this weekend. I don't know what Red Bull will do, but everyone is constantly making their cars better.”

“So we can't stand still and kind of just expect it to be like that every weekend. I think it would be naïve of us to think we can win every weekend now that we've won one. But I think we are definitely getting closer. I think we're learning more and more as we go through the season, which is helping us a lot and I think everybody's probably doing the same.”

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Oscar Piastri feels potential of their package will only reflect in future races

Oscar Piastri felt McLaren understood their package better in Miami and were able to optimize the best setup. Despite the upgrades, he claimed it was one of those weekends where everyone struggled with tire performance. He believes the races ahead will be a better reflection of their potential.

Asked if the strength of the upgrades was overshadowed by the odd tire behavior, Oscar Piastri said:

“Yes if it is that then I would be loving it but it could also go the other way. I think we definitely did some things right in Miami in terms of setup and stuff like that and just maximizing the package that we've got but yeah we'll have to say I think for everybody it was a bit of an odd weekend with how the the tires were working. I think as the cars get quicker, we're stressing the tires more and more, so it will be difficult everywhere we go. But yeah, definitely it's been a long time since we've seen people genuinely trying to qualify on mediums instead of softs. So I think we'll see a bit more of a true reflection in the races to come.”

Oscar Piastri will have a completely upgraded McLaren in Imola, which could hopefully help him beat or match his teammate. The Australian has struggled to finish ahead of his British teammate in the last six races and is determined to step up his game in the next few races. He is currently placed sixth in the championship with a total of 41 points while his teammate has double the points tally and is in fourth place. McLaren are third in the championship with a total of 124 points, 63 points adrift of Ferrari, and a further 115 points adrift of Red Bull Racing.