Oscar Piastri has joined McLaren leaving Alpine as he prepares for his first season in F1.
Oscar Piastri shifted teams in a chaotic contract dispute between McLaren and Alpine. The Australian finally found his much-awaited debut with McLaren. Piastri drove for McLaren during the morning session yesterday on the first day of testing in Bahrain.
Before Oscar Piastri again took the wheel on Friday afternoon, he was asked if he feels any kind of pressure to deliver with his new team in F1. The chaos around him and his exceptional junior career have made expectations around him quite high.
To this, the 21-year-old replied:
“I think in terms of my junior results, obviously it’s been my ticket to F1, so I think for me it’s only a good thing that I can look back at with confidence. And I think regarding the contract situation last year, I think it’s closed and it’s pretty clear cut, so I don’t think that aspect, in particular, adds anything.”
“I think obviously there’s an element of expectation, but I think that’s to be expected for a rookie. We’re one of 20 drivers in Formula 1 so there’s always going to be a lot of eyes on us. So I don’t think that’s really been affected too much,” he said.
For his first day in testing, Piastri completed 52 laps with the best time of 1:34.888. The time was lowest among the three rookie drivers making their debut this year.
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