Oscar Piastri has highlighted being more consistent in qualifying as the main area he needs to improve to be a match to McLaren Formula 1 team-mate Lando Norris.
Piastri has delivered an impressive sophomore season in F1 as he’s helped McLaren to usurp Red Bull to lead the Constructors’ Championships with six rounds to go.
But while he has registered seven podiums and two victories this term, Piastri rests 42 points behind team-mate Norris, who resides 52 points below Max Verstappen.
Piastri showcased in his rookie campaign that he could rival Norris’ raw pace and he has since made monumental gains with his race management during this season.
However, the Australian has accepted that being 15-3 behind his team-mate in the qualifying head-to-head has hindered his chances of being the lead McLaren home.
Asked where he can still develop as an F1 driver, Piastri said: “I think it’s still a little bit everywhere. I would say I’ve not made life easy for myself in qualifying this year.
“So, you know, qualifying better, more consistently would help.
“I think I’ve been very happy with particularly the elements I showed in Baku in terms of overtaking and being under pressure and stuff like that I was happy with.”
Piastri reliant on execution, not more speed
But although the record books state that Piastri has out-qualified Norris once every six races in 2024, the margin between the two McLaren drivers has been minimal.
Piastri believes that the solution to ensuring those gaps go in his favour rests in executing his laps on a more regular basis rather than needing to extract more speed.
Pressed on whether he knows what he needs to improve in that regard, Piastri responded: “I think just consistency more than anything.
“I’ve not really had many sessions apart from maybe Baku where, you know, I’ve been happy with my performance all the way from Q1 to the end of Q3.
“The gap has always been very small in pretty much all of those races. But I’ve always been on the wrong side of it. So I think it’s just a matter of consistency.
“I don’t feel like I need to try and find extra time or something like that.
“I think that my best performances are good enough to qualify on pole position in the right circumstances. But I just need to be at that level more consistently.”
Piastri acknowledges potential stumbling block
Piastri has acknowledged that visiting tracks where he has garnered minimal experience will complicate his attempt to close the gap on Norris in the remaining races.
“There’s still going to be some tough races in the latter part of the year on tracks that I’ve only been to once,” he highlighted.
“So just trying to work on some of the weaknesses I had at those tracks last year is still going to be a key to the end of the season.
“Just a bit of everything because I feel like I’m improving a lot as I go through my career, but I’m certainly not the finished product yet.”
