Interview
New reality for Piastri: 'I still have to get used to the fame'
- Ludo van Denderen
It took barely a season and a half for Oscar Piastri to become one of Formula 1's frontrunners, something that radically changed his life. GPblog spoke at length with the McLaren driver about his personal development during this period, who opened up about dealing with the enormous pressure in F1 and suddenly being a celebrity.
It is a familiar sight in the Formula 1 paddock: a driver flying by on his scooter or running at high speed from the garage to his hospitality area. Oscar Piastri (23) is one of them regularly. Not because he tries to avoid his fans, but with one Grand Prix victory to his name, the Australian has gradually become so popular that congestion soon forms around him as he makes his way through the paddock. Everyone seems to want a selfie or autograph from him.
It is the new reality for Piastri, who has only been in Formula 1 for a year and a half. People notice him wherever he goes or stands, on or off the paddock. "The fame attached to the sport is something I'm still getting used to," Piastri admitted during an exclusive interview with GPblog. "Getting recognised more and more, especially in the second half of last year. It took a step up from nobody noticing me to a few and now this year, now that we're fighting right at the front and I guess because I had some good results, even more people recognise me. So there's a lot less anonymity about life, but it's still cool at the same time."
Piastri just wants to remain himself
Piastri is not exactly the type to turn himself upside down to get all the attention. He is and remains a down-to-earth Australian who, above all, remains close to himself. "I think the mental pressure that comes with it, for me it's very similar to the junior racing that I've done. Of course, there are many more people watching now than all the junior racing I did, but the self-pressure is still exactly the same. You always want to go out and win, get the most out of the car."
"So for me the outside noise doesn't really mean much to me. It's always comes from within. That's why I speak a bit about trying to work on leaving each weekend feeling like I've done a good job rather than looking purely at the results or stats. Because there have been plenty of weekends this year where the results have not shown the full picture, but I've actually left the weekend very happy. So that's kind of how I deal with the pressure. Don't get me wrong, it's a high-pressure situation and environment, especially when we're now at the front like we are."
Under the magnifying glass
Piastri competes for the podium places - sometimes even for victories - at virtually every Grand Prix. But the Australian wants more than that; he dreams of becoming a Formula 1 world champion. Once he manages to get involved in a championship battle - as his teammate Lando Norris is now doing with Max Verstappen - Piastri comes under the magnifying glass. The McLaren driver is aware of that, he says.
"It could [happen], yes. If it is, it's a good situation to be in though. That’s the other side of it. If you're not doing anything good or bad, people probably aren't going to say that much. But if you're doing something good then people are going to speak about it and the way you guys (the media) are sometimes, you always want to generate stories and just talk about the sport. When you're right at the front, every little thing is under a spotlight. Which is how it should be really. Hopefully next year, that is the case because it means we're doing well."
Piastri works on finetuning details
Many Formula 1 experts assume Piastri is a future world champion. Mathematically, the Australian could take the title with his impressive McLaren car as early as 2024, yet it is not easy. Piastri is still in the midst of a development process. Looking back on his first season and a half in Formula 1, he says: "I am happy with the way I am developing. I think it has gone about at the pace I had hoped for and what I expected. I'm pretty happy with it. But there were more things I had to work on than I expected beforehand."
Tyre and race management were then cited by Piastri as highlights his immense improvement from his first day in Formula 1 until now. "I feel like that's really taken a big step forward. We're now into the final details of trying to perfect that rather than take a big step with that. That's probably been the biggest area. Being a bit more consistent is still something I want to improve, which has been more with qualifying this year, to be honest, rather than anything," Piastri said.
Becoming as consistent as Norris at McLaren
Meanwhile, Piastri is increasingly able to match the level of his more experienced teammate, Lando Norris, and he was also able to get the better of him on different weekends. "The biggest thing has been doing it every week. I think there have been some weekends where I've not been on the same level. But I also think there have been some weekends where I've been very strong. Last year, there were more weekends, especially in the race, where I needed to find a step to be able to go with Lando. I feel like this year, a lot more of the time, not all the time, I've been able to go with him and on some occasions be a little bit quicker. But just doing it every single weekend is kind of the difficult part."
This article was written in collaboration with Kada Sarkozi
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