Oscar Piastri believes McLaren’s extensive upgrade package for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix will move the team closer to the front of the Formula 1 grid.
McLaren has endured an arduous start to 2023, sustaining its worst opening two races to a season in 27 years.
While the Woking outfit took advantage of a chaotic race to secure a fairly substantial points haul last time out in Australia, McLaren’s launch-spec car hasn’t yet delivered on the pre-season target of being a consistent upper midfield runner.
Since conceding it missed development targets with its car over the winter, the British side has pinned its hopes on future updates addressing the core weaknesses of the MCL60.
Piastri, who scored his maiden F1 points at his home grand prix, is confident that the changes in Baku will enable McLaren to close the gap to all the teams ahead.
“I think it’ll definitely help us to move closer to the front of the grid,” he expressed. “I’m sure all the other teams have got upgrades of their own as well.
“And I think what we’ve got coming in Baku is a good step in what is a bigger plan throughout the rest of the season. So it’ll help a bit, definitely, and get us on the right track, I hope.”
However, Piastri has also admitted that the relative step the papaya squad makes in the pecking order will be determined by the step McLaren’s rivals also make with new parts.
“But I think we are not underestimating that everyone else will probably have new parts as well, so we’ll see how much competitiveness we gain from that,” he added.
Having beaten Lando Norris in qualifying in Saudi Arabia on his way to a first Q3 appearance, Piastri avoided the late carnage in Melbourne to secure a solid eighth-place finish and get his F1 career off the mark at the third attempt.
With Norris also coming home inside the points in sixth, McLaren elevated itself from the bottom of the Constructors’ Championship up to a surprising fifth.
But the Australian’s momentum has now been stalled somewhat by the interruption of a four-week interval until the next round in Azerbaijan.
Piastri, though, professes the break has probably come at an ideal time for McLaren following its challenging opening to the season.
“Yeah, I think, for me, it’s a nice opportunity to, I guess, look back at the first three races of my F1 career and digest what went well, what went not so well,” he said.
“And it’s a bit of a reset for the rest of the year. So, I think it’ll be nice for everyone.
“Obviously, you want to keep that momentum if you’re going well, it’s a good chance to reset if you’re not, so I think we’ll use it to our advantage.”
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