Oscar Piastri happy to be in the hunted position
For the first time in his career, Oscar Piastri leads the F1 championship. An enviable position, of course, but one that doesn't change his habits.
Oscar Piastri pulled off an impressive comeback: relegated to 23 points behind Lando Norris after his small mistake with big consequences during the inaugural Grand Prix in Australia, the Australian managed to take the lead in the championship, with a 10-point advantage over his teammate at the end of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He thus finds himself in the unprecedented position of leading the Drivers’ Championship.
However, he does not appear more impressed than that and does not intend to change his habits: The approach to the weekend is exactly the same, namely to try to win the race. But instead of adding extra pressure, he believes that this position only confirms the validity of what he has achieved since the start of the season: To be honest, it doesn’t change much. I like being in the position of the hunted because, normally, it means you have done something well. I am quite relaxed, the gap is very small, and we are only at the sixth race. So I don’t dwell on it.
If he knows that he has had a dominant package since the beginning of the season, the high temperatures in Florida could have a significant impact on the various cars. But he has clearly identified that his main rival is none other than his own teammate, Lando Norris, who has shown signs of weakness lately, especially with his crash during qualifying in Saudi Arabia.
He thus acknowledged that he has work to do to face a teammate who makes very few mistakes: « I am working on myself, on what I need to improve, and on everything that happens behind the scenes that I need to do better. It’s certainly not due to a lack of speed or ability to do it. I often lead in Q1 and Q2, but every time I get to Q3, things don’t go as planned. There are elements in driving, but also in the car, that haven’t gone well. I’m working on it, and hopefully this weekend, I can put it into action. »
With points awarded starting Saturday morning with the Sprint format, the battle between the two McLaren drivers promises to be fierce, and it will be essential not to make any mistakes.
From our special correspondent in Miami
