Oscar Piastri has expressed that he is hoping his win at the Chinese Grand Prix can provide the springboard to mount a championship challenge in Formula 1 in 2025.
Piastri converted his maiden pole position in the series into a dominant victory at the Shanghai International Circuit as he led home McLaren team-mate Lando Norris.
The Australian’s third career win was the ideal response to the heartbreak he endured on home soil a week ago when a spin cost him a possible podium in Melbourne.
With McLaren consolidating its status as the side to beat, Piastri, who now sits 10 points behind Norris, has reiterated his desire to chase the Drivers’ title this season.
“It’s been an incredible weekend from, from start to finish,” Piastri said. “The car’s been, pretty mega the whole time.
“I think today was a bit of a surprise with how different the tyres behaved. I’m just proud of the whole weekend, this is what I feel like I deserved from last week.
“Extremely happy. The team did a mega job, 1-2, obviously, so I’m just very happy.”
Piastri expresses surprise at one-stop race
Piastri has admitted he was surprised to make it to the end with one pit stop amid the pre-race expectation that high degradation would make it a two-stop encounter.
“I think on the Medium it was still a bit tricky but much better than yesterday,” he explained.
“And then the Hard was a much better tyre than everyone expected, I think, or certainly than we expected.
“To go all the way to the end like that was a bit of a surprise but, a happy surprise.
“I’m very very proud of the race we managed to pull off it wasn’t an easy one going in, and, yeah, just proud of the whole team and the weekend I’ve been able to pull off.”
READ MORE – Oscar Piastri controls proceedings to take F1 Chinese GP victory
