Formula 1
Piastri: F1 2023 a bigger rollercoaster than expected
Oscar Piastri admitted his rookie Formula 1 season with McLaren was "a bigger rollercoaster" than he had anticipated.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Dec 1, 2023, 10:50 AM
Copy link
Share on Viber
After a difficult start with a car that wasn't competitive, he took advantage of the team's mid-season upgrades to make a strong impression in the second half of the year.
He twice made the podium in grands prix, finishing runner-up in Qatar and third in Japan, while also logging victory in the sprint event at the former.
He ended the year in a respectable ninth place in the F1 world championship, albeit outscored by team-mate Lando Norris by 205 points to 97.
"It's definitely been a bigger rollercoaster than I expected," he said. "I knew there would be ups and downs, maybe not as down at the start or as up at the end!
"But I've really learned a lot. I feel like I've had basically every situation you could have, apart from a championship fight.
"So it's been a good year in terms of learning, I think as a team, where we're learning how to compete at the front again, which is exciting.
"It's not a position we've been in for 10 years. So nice to be having these conversations again, going through these scenarios.
Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images
Oscar Piastri, McLaren, 1st position, celebrates with his team after winning the Sprint race
"And for me, it's really a privilege to be fighting at the front so early in my career. There are people that go their whole F1 career that don't have the opportunity that I've had in 22 races.
"So I'm very, very grateful for that. And I'm looking forward to plenty more years to come where hopefully we can do that more often."
Piastri thanked the team for giving him a more competitive car while stressing he had also made the most of it.
"It's definitely been a great season," he said when asked by Motorsport.com if he was proud of what he'd achieved.
"A lot of highlights that I wouldn't have been able to do without the team improving the car the way we did. So I have to give a lot of credit to them.
"But also, I guess to pat myself on the back, I had to deliver in those moments too.
"I think for me, that's probably the proudest moment, Silverstone where we rocked up with a car that was competitive, I was able to get the most out of it. Japan, not my finest race, but did enough to score on my first podium.
"And Qatar we had one opportunity really in the whole year to actually win something. And we managed to take it. For me, I can be very proud of that. Definitely some trickier weekends, and things still to work on as a whole season.
Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images
Oscar Piastri, McLaren MCL60, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL60, Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing RB19, George Russell, Mercedes F1 W14, Carlos Sainz, Ferrari SF-23, Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF-23, the rest of the field at the start
"You don't win championships by one or two good weekends. I know that from my junior career, so just need to make that happen more often."
Piastri finished his season in Abu Dhabi with a solid sixth place, having qualified third.
"It was nice to just have a clean race," he said. "It feels like it's been a while since I've had a race without contact or something crazy going on! So maybe not as strong as we would have liked as a team.
"I think my first and second stint weren't my best stints of the year. But I think the final stint looked quite strong. So nice to end it on a decent note.
"I think we hoped for a bit more pace, but we know that our car is still weak in a few areas. I think this track definitely exposes that in places."
Read Also:
Formula 1Hamilton admits to self-doubt, says Abu Dhabi 2021 prompted F1 retirement thoughts
Formula 1Naked Bottas calendar raises $150,000 for charity despite his mum’s concerns
Formula 1The Olympian who saved Brazil's F1 race
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Hamilton admits to self-doubt, says Abu Dhabi 2021 prompted F1 retirement thoughts
Next article Stephanie Carlin joins McLaren as F1 business operations director
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Oscar Piastri
F1 United States GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
5 h
F1 United States GP: Sunday schedule, weather forecast and how to watch
Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027
Formula 1
Formula 1
Singapore GP
Why McLaren cannot fix its F1 car handling until 2027
More from
McLaren
Lando Norris laments "very bad job" in qualifying for F1 United States GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
4 h
Lando Norris laments "very bad job" in qualifying for F1 United States GP
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
"We're just a step behind" - what McLaren is trying to solve with its final 2026 upgrades
Latest news
MotoGP announces new start time for Australian GP after weather delays
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
30 min
MotoGP announces new start time for Australian GP after weather delays
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Indonesian GP
1 h
2026 MotoGP Australian Grand Prix – How to watch, session times & more
There will be even less drag in Cup cars at Talladega on Sunday
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
2 h
There will be even less drag in Cup cars at Talladega on Sunday
Kimi Antonelli delivers Austin surprise pole in tricky Mercedes: "Finally we're seeing the results"
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
United States GP
3 h
Kimi Antonelli delivers Austin surprise pole in tricky Mercedes: "Finally we're seeing the results"
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe