The physical and mental tuning helping Piastri acclimatise to F1

We’ve photographed Oscar Piastri in the gym. Not just any gym, of course; it’s the typically just-so fitness centre in the depths of the McLaren Technology Centre, softly lit and bedecked with inspirational slogans etched into the glass. It’s in rooms such as this where Piastri has been busily laying down the groundwork for his entrance to Formula 1.

There’s no question that F1 machinery is a physical
 step up from the world of junior single-seaters: while power steering mitigates that step to a degree, the g-forces are higher, the races longer, and the rigours of travel more intense. Much of the conditioning required can only come from driving… and seat time isn’t something Piastri enjoyed in great quantities through the last season where, having won the Formula 2 championship in 2021, he
 was warming the bench as Alpine’s reserve driver 
before McLaren swooped to the rescue.