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McLaren driver Oscar Piastri is worried that fans watching the Australian Grand Prix will notice a ‘pretty obvious’ issue with Formula 1’s new power units this weekend.
Formula 1’s brand new regulations will be making their very public debut at this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix, and while they appear to have already tripped up Aston Martin and Honda, the rest of the grid looked surprisingly up to speed during pre-season testing.
The likes of Mercedes and Haas completed the most laps, with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc setting the fastest time in Bahrain.
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However, McLaren were happy going under the radar, with few people predicting them to be the championship favourites heading to Melbourne.
Oscar Piastri is hoping to break the ‘Aussie Curse’ this weekend and secure a podium in front of hundreds of thousands of his fans.
Unfortunately, he’s concerned that people watching the race will see an ‘obvious’ problem with the sport’s new power units once the action gets underway.
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Piastri was asked by 10 News how much ‘fire in the belly’ he has to redeem himself from last season, and he said: “There’s definitely fire in the belly for that!
“I think we’ll just have to wait and see what our car’s like. I don’t think we’ve quite got the performance that we had 12 months ago, but we’re certainly still in the mix.
“So, let’s see what everyone else rolls out with. I think it’s going to be a good test, all the sandbags will be dropped out, so let’s wait and see what we get.”
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The 24-year-old was then asked how he was finding the new cars and continued: “Definitely challenging.
“Just very different to what we’ve had in F1 before. I think these new power units definitely have some challenges and some differences from what we’ve had previously, and I think they’re probably going to be pretty obvious on the weekend.
“But, new things to learn for us all and a new way you can try and improve and get an edge over the rest of the field.”
“It would be awesome,” Piastri also admitted when asked about ending Australia’s long wait for a home driver to finish on the podium.
“I think everyone wants to win their home race first, so, for me, that would be awesome.
“I’ll try and stick it on the podium first, that’s the first goal, and see what we can do.
“Again, we’ll wait and see what car we’ve got, and if it’s a car to try and win, I’ll try and make sure I do it.”
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Why Oscar Piastri is worried about Formula 1’s new power units at the Australian Grand Prix
Pre-season testing quickly saw Max Verstappen dropping down into first gear at corners normally taken in second or third gear, creating a seriously high level of revs in the process.
This is because drivers now need to find new ways to charge up the battery portion of the hybrid power unit for redeployment later in the lap.
However, the trouble with the Albert Park circuit is the lack of heavy braking zones that would allow drivers to recharge their batteries.
There have already been calls for an extra practice session in Australia to help teams and drivers understand the requirements of their new engines before competitive action gets underway.
The most worrying phenomenon will be drivers approaching qualifying not at full throttle, potentially ruining the spectacle for fans.
If that happens, then the FIA will know how quickly they need to act to avoid backlash from millions of people watching worldwide.
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