McLaren has started the new season strongly by finishing in the points with both drivers during the first two race weekends. Now that the Formula 1 grid will travel to Melbourne, the British racing team’s focus is on one thing: maintaining the momentum during Oscar Piastri’s home race. Drivers Piastri and Lando Norris are certainly looking forward to it, and team boss Andrea Stella also sounds hopeful about the trip to Melbourne.
The first two races in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia yielded decent results for Piastri and Norris, but for the third Grand Prix of the season the gentlemen travel to a location that makes their hearts beat faster. ‘Australia, my home race! I’m really looking forward to racing in front of my home crowd again. Nothing feels better than this,” Piastri emphasized in McLaren’s preview. Norris also shares his teammate’s enthusiasm. ‘I’m really looking forward to racing in Australia again. It’s a nice track anyway and the fans there are fantastic, so it’s a really nice atmosphere to race.”
McLaren drivers work hard to maximize results
However, in addition to having fun, you will also have to work, although both gentlemen seem to be well prepared for that. “I was at the factory the week before the Grand Prix to analyze the first two races of the season with my engineers,” Norris revealed. ‘We will now apply everything we have learned to score even more points in Melbourne.’ Piastri also spent his week off in a similar way. ‘I already had a fourth place in Saudi Arabia, but I still analyzed all the data to maximize everything.’
Team boss Stella is also eager to race on Australian soil again, knowing that the British racing stable is in good shape so far. ‘During the first two races we scored important points and showed strong performances on track, so it’s important that we can keep that momentum going while focusing on the things we still need to improve. Then we can ultimately fight for the podium places.’ Finally, the Italian could not suppress his enthusiasm about the location. ‘Melbourne is always a fantastic place to go, and of course it’s also Oscar’s home race. I count on a lot of support from the fans, and hopefully they will get a great race in return.’
