Oscar Piastri thinks McLaren ‘can’t take for granted’ Red Bull situation with Sergio Perez

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McLaren has firmly established itself as a frontrunner in Formula 1 and with 12 races left it stands a chance of mounting a title challenge with Red Bull.

The MCL38 has been one of the quickest packages at recent races with Lando Norris comfortably being able to challenge for victories, however, a series of driver mistakes and strategic errors have led to the team arguably wasting opportunities.

F1 is a results business game and the old saying goes that ‘you are only as good as your last race’ and both Norris and McLaren admitted the win was on the cards at Silverstone, while Oscar Piastri felt they chose the wrong strategy which led to his race unravelling at the front.

Red Bull currently only has Max Verstappen scoring points for them after a series of bad results has put Sergio Perez under pressure, meaning it is a lot easier for the Woking-based squad to close the 78-point gap in the Constructors Championship.

Oscar Piastri thinks McLaren should not waste opportunities

McLaren has not won multiple races in a season since 2012, with their last two victories being at this years Miami Grand Prix and the 2021 Italian Grand Prix.

Piastri feels the team should not be wasting opportunities while there is ongoing unrest at Red Bull, and firmly believes they are in the hunt for a championship.

“We’re confident in our whole team drivers, car, everyone around us I think we’re we’ve got a lot of confidence. We’ve scored the most points of any team in the last six races and we’re making up ground on everyone around us,” said Piastri.

“The gap to Ferrari now in the Constructors’ Championship is very small, we’re reducing it at Red Bull. At the moment, it’s really only Max scoring most of the points there. We can’t take for granted that it’s always going to be like that. We need to still be to be maximizing what we can do to score the most points for both cars.

“We’re definitely confident that we’re in the fight. I think it’d be incredibly pessimistic to not be to not be optimistic of our chances later in the year.”

Hungary and Spa to be key battle grounds for McLaren and Red Bull

The next two races before the summer break will be key battlegrounds for McLaren and Red Bull considering their contrasting characteristics.

Red Bull is facing having to play catch up after breaking the ‘golden rule’ of the current generation of cars with their latest upgrades, while McLaren must maintain the momentum they have been building.

It is anticipated that Mercedes might face issues at the Hungaroring due to the high temperatures expected throughout the weekend, while Ferrari is also having to play catch up after its recent upgrades reintroduced the bouncing problem with their car.

Piastri has yet to win a Grand Prix in F1 and has needed to get on top of issues in qualifying, which the Australian put down to setup problems in recent races.