Oscar Piastri has revealed that being true to himself and letting his off-track personality show has been a secret to unlocking better performances in his Formula 1 career.
The Australian has enjoyed a fairly meteoric rise in F1, taking nine wins in just over three seasons since making his debut with McLaren in 2023.
After securing a maiden F1 win in the Qatar Sprint in that maiden campaign, a full first Grand Prix victory came in Hungary the next season.
And since then, Piastri has gone from strength to strength, and looking like he was the champion-elect for most of last year, before a late-season dip in form handed the crown to teammate Lando Norris.
Despite that, Piastri is now regarded as one of the fastest and coolest of wheelsmiths on the grid, with a frank but seemingly unflappable attitude.
Speaking to Fox Sports, Piastri explained that he feels that letting the real him show trackside has been a significant factor in being able to reach a fuller potential behind the whee.
“I certainly feel more comfortable now than I did in my first year of F1,” the McLaren driver said.
“I think it’s always been something that’s pretty important to me, being just who I am off the track as well and not trying to force something that isn’t me.”
Oscar Piastri theorises not being ‘the super professional’ is not always helpful
Piastri continued by stating his belief that conveying humour, sometimes at others – provided he can back it up with results – is a powerful tool as an F1 driver, opposed to always being a slick, media-trained machine.
“It’s always attached to performances on the track,” he said.
“I think often I find it very hard anyway to be kind of jokey or making shots at people and stuff if you can’t back it up on track, and for me just being relaxed and being myself has always been how I am.
“I think as you become more comfortable, you kind of make jokes about not doing the first two races of the year or stuff like that.
“That’s just always how I’ve been in some ways, but once you’ve got some results and let’s say some street cred to back it up, then you naturally feel a bit more comfortable, showing yourself more and not being maybe the super professional F1 driver all the time and letting your personality show.
“That’s just how I am as a person, and I think everyone’s unique in their own way.”
With two non-starts in the first two races, the first being an embarrassing installation lap shunt in front of his home fans, Piastri was certainly able to back it up with a podium at Suzuka.
If McLaren can remedy its early-season issues and find its feet to compete higher up the grid, then it would be silly not to bet against Piastri taking a win or two this season.
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