Oscar Piastri admitted he was determined to prove to his rivals that he was no “pushover” when it came to on-track fighting during his rookie Formula 1 campaign in 2023.
The Australian impressed heavily in his debut season, capitalising on McLaren’s mid-season resurgence to record two podium finishes and a Sprint race victory in Qatar.
Piastri also earned admiration for his robust but calculated stance when battling much more experienced counterparts and he received no penalties for driving violations.
The newcomer stood his ground against seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton at Monza, with the other Mercedes of George Russell earning a five-second penalty in Austin for an off-track overtake. Meanwhile, AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda got caught in a spin in Mexico attempting to pass Piastri.
Piastri has noted how he was mindful of the importance of ensuring his competitors realised early in the season that displacing him for position would not be an easy task.
When asked by Autosport if he believed he’d been underestimated at any stage by other drivers, Piastri answered: “Not so much.
“Of course, there’s an element of respect and I guess racing people how you want to be raced in some ways. I guess I always try and race people hard, but fair.
“At the beginning of the season or beginning of your career, it’s always important to show it to people that you’re not a pushover because it’s not a nice thing to have.”
However, the McLaren ace believes that he managed to strike the optimal balance between being aggressive and conservative when it came to wheel-to-wheel combat.
Piastri cites his success in the preceding categories, which included successive title wins in Formula 3 and Formula 2, could be attributed to avoiding unneccesary contact.
“I don’t think I’m overly harsh or aggressive or anything like that,” he later added.
“In my junior career, a big element of my championships was from staying out of trouble and being consistent.
“I think there’s definitely a good saying in that it’s sometimes more important to finish the race and be wrong in a situation than be right about something and be out of the race.
“So, that’s kind of always an element I’ve tried to keep. But I just tried to race hard but fair.”
Piastri will enter his sophomore F1 season once again alongside Lando Norris, who outscored his less established team-mate by 205 points to 97 in their first year together.
The McLaren pairing’s combined total of nine podiums helped the Woking-based squad beat early highfliers Aston Martin to fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship.
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