Oscar Piastri has revealed that McLaren’s comeback in 2023 was also a surprise for the team itself. According to the Australian, the team was able to make the comeback because of the good foundation that already existed within the team prior to the upgrades. Piastri also knows what his team has to do in 2024.
“I have full confidence in (Stella, ed.), in Zak (Brown, ed.), in different parts of the company,” Piastri said about how he sees the future of McLaren after the successful comeback in 2023, speaking to Autosport . Thanks to a series of three good upgrades, McLaren managed to fight back from the back of the field to a team that is fighting for podium places.
The Australian therefore looks back on the 2023 season with a very positive feeling. “It has exceeded everyone’s expectations how quickly we were able to turn things around. For me, the most impressive thing was that I felt like there was a really good foundation with the race team during the races. And when we needed to make changes, we did and it worked.”
Piastri himself did not expect that McLaren could fight back to the top of the field during the previous season. “The upgrades have delivered everything we hoped for, in some cases even more than we expected in certain situations. I didn’t expect to be in this position (fighting for podium places, ed.) so early in my time at McLaren.’
Piastri: ‘If you stand still, you go backwards’
Piastri also shares what the most important lesson will be for McLaren, now that the team starts the 2024 season with high expectations. ‘The most important thing is to keep the momentum going. If you stand still, you go backwards. Of course we don’t know what the other teams around us have. We are happier than 12 months ago with where things stand now. But until you’re on the same track as everyone else, you never know exactly what it’s going to be like.”
