Piastri reflecting on F1 start ahead of Baku upgrades

Oscar Piastri is using the elongated break between the Australian and Azerbaijan Grands Prix to reflect on the start of his F1 career.

Formula 1 is in the midst of a three-week hiatus, a legacy of the cancelled Chinese Grand Prix.

It follows three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain in February, the opening round at the same venue a week later, before jetting to Saudi Arabia and then Melbourne.

“I think for me, it’s a nice opportunity to look back at the first three races of my F1 career for me and digest what went well, what went not so well,” Piastri said of the break in the schedule.

“[It’s] A bit of a reset for the rest of the year. So think it’ll be nice for everyone.

“Obviously you want to keep that momentum going well, so it’s a chance to reset if you’re not.

“I think we’ll use it to our advantage.”

Piastri has enjoyed a solid start to his Formula 1 career.

While he failed to see the chequered flag in Bahrain he ran largely in the wheel tracks of his more experienced McLaren team-mate, Lando Norris.

He banked a full race distance in Saudi Arabia, dicing with Norris and Logan Sargeant in the closing laps.

That experienced served him well in Albert Park where he duelled with Yuki Tsunoda, banging wheels at one point with the Scuderia AlphaTauri driver.

By race end, he’d risen into the points in ninth, which became eighth following a penalty for Carlos Sainz.

It helped propel McLaren to fifth in the constructors’ championship with 12 points, having not scored prior to Australia.

Upgrade path

McLaren will boast an upgrade package in Azerbaijan next time out.

A B-spec car is set to be debuted sometime before the mid-season.

“I think it’ll definitely help us to move closer to the front of the grid,” Piastri said of the planned developments.

“What we’ve got coming back to is a good step in what is, you know, a little bit of a good plan throughout the rest of the season.

“So it’ll help a bit definitely and get us on the right track.

“We’re not underestimating that everyone else will probably have new parts as well, so we’ll see how much competitiveness we gain from that.”

Baku hosts Round 4 of the 2023 F1 season on April 28-30.