“We’ll be good from the start of this year,” the McLaren driver said as he prepared for the season-opening F1 weekend.
Piastri grew up a short drive away from Melbourne’s Albert Park circuit and he made heads turn by signing a long-term deal with McLaren this week, which will keep him with the team beyond 2026.
His team is determined to start strong in Melbourne in the season’s opening race, and Piastri is hoping that he will finish atop the podium, while also battling tough competition from teammate Lando Norris.
“I think last season, the first few races is where we lacked a little bit of performance, and hopefully this year we can start off on how we ended,” Piastri said at a sponsor event Wednesday night for McLaren.
“So that’s our big aim. I think we’re pretty confident that we’ll be good from the start of this year. So I’m excited to get out on track in front of our fans.”
McLaren is favored to win the season-opening GP, having shown impressive long-run pace at Bahrain in pre-season testing.
“Bahrain did look good, yes. But you never quite know what everybody is hiding in testing — maybe we were hiding something, you don’t know,” he said. “So, we’ll wait and see. I think we won’t properly know until qualifying on Saturday.”
Qualifying will be a focal point this year for hopeful protagonist Piastri, with the Australian needing to be ahead of his teammate Norris for a better shot at race victories. Last year the Norris outqualified him 21-3 across the season.
First Published: Mar 15, 2025 11:18 AM IST
