Oscar Piastri reveals ‘tough’ fears as McLaren driver’s ‘weaknesses’ risk being exposed

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Oscar Piastri is the most in-form driver on the Formula 1 grid but admits the McLaren pilot fears a ‘tough’ end to the term if the Australian cannot improve his weaknesses.

No driver has scored more points than Piastri across the last 11 rounds, with the 23-year-old penning 184. His haul since the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola in May alone would also be enough for Piastri to sit sixth in the drivers’ standings through 18 of this year’s 24 rounds.

Piastri started his superb streak with second place in the Monaco Grand Prix and has sealed three further P2 finishes plus one P3. The Melbourne even took Piastri’s first Grand Prix win at the Hungarian GP, and won again at the Azerbaijan GP, without yet taking a pole position.

Oscar Piastri expects ‘tough’ F1 races at circuits he has seldom driven

But while Piastri has risen the standings in recent rounds, he does not expect an easy finish to the season. The final six rounds of the season take the 2020 F3 and 2021 F2 champion to five circuits he has only raced at once before, each also during his rookie F1 season in 2023.

It did not stop Piastri from securing pole position for the F1 Sprint at the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix, which he went on to win. McLaren also saw Piastri secure his first runners-up result in Lusail last time around. But his results did not remain at that level as the season concluded.

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So, ahead of returning to the Circuit of the Americas, the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, Interlagos, the Las Vegas Strip Circuit and the Lusail International Circuit this term, Piastri is fully aware that the McLaren ace must work on his ‘weaknesses’ or face some ‘tough’ races.

Piastri said, via quotes by RacingNews365: “There’s still going to be some tough races in the latter part of the year on tracks that I’ve only been to once, and just trying to work on some of the weaknesses I had at those tracks last year is still going to be key to end the season.”

Only the Qatar GP delivered happy memories on Oscar Piastri’s first visit in 2023

Piastri retired 10 laps into the 2023 United States Grand Prix as his McLaren overheated and also finished the F1 Sprint in P10. Lando Norris finished the Sprint in fourth, 23.540 seconds ahead, and gained P2 once Lewis Hamilton was disqualified from the 2023 United States GP.

The 2023 Mexico City Grand Prix then saw Piastri and McLaren teammate Norris finish in P8 and P5 respectively, followed by P14 and P2 in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. Piastri sustained an early blow in Brazil due to debris following Kevin Magnussen and Alex Albon’s early collision.

F1’s maiden Las Vegas Grand Prix was not a great occasion for McLaren, as well, with Piastri finishing in P10 after Norris crashed on Lap 2 of 50. The papaya cars then sealed P5 and P6 in the Abu Dhabi GP with Norris and Piastri at a track he won an F2 Feature Race at in 2021.