Piastri ‘good to go’ following Baku illness

Oscar Piastri has declared himself “good to go” for this weekend’s Miami Grand Prix after battling illness in Azerbaijan a week ago.

The Australian lost more than four kilograms of body weight over the weekend and admitted to eating just four pieces of toast.

He battled on to an 11th-place finish in the race as his condition began to improve and he believes he’s now back to full health.

“The Sunday was probably the best I felt on the weekend,” Piastri said.

“Once the adrenaline kicked in in each session, it was alright – although Saturday, if you had asked me to do the full race, I would have struggled.

“But Sunday, I was okay and feeling pretty good. Once the adrenaline dropped off after the race I wasn’t feeling great again.

“I’m pretty much back how I should be in terms of fitness and just feeling,” he added.

“I don’t know how much I weigh yet, we’ll keep an eye on that, but I’ve managed to get food in the last few days, which is good – certainly no shortage of it!

“I should be good to go.”

Piastri has put in a good account of himself in his opening four races.

A steady build-up during the opening round was seen as a positive despite a mechanical failure ending his race early.

He progressed to Qualifying 3 in Saudi Arabia and completed the full race distance, thought towards the back after opening lap damage dropped him (and team-mate Lando Norris) down the order.

On home soil, Piastri scored points for the first time in his Formula 1 career before battling illness throughout the Azerbaijan weekend.

Of those four events, three were at venues he’d raced at before – Albert Park was the odd one out.

Miami is also a new venue for the 22-year-old, one he sampled in McLaren’s simulator ahead of Azerbaijan.

“Obviously, Melbourne and here are a little bit different where the walls are not immediately next to the track in a few places, so it’s a bit different,” he explained.

“A new track for me this weekend, again, so it’s tough, but I think we’ve got enough practice nowadays to be able to learn enough.”

Opening practice in Miami begins at 14:00 local time on Friday (04:00 AEST, Saturday) with a standard format – three-practice sessions feeding into qualifying and race – in use this weekend.