Why Piastri being "almost constantly a little unhappy" pre-F1 debut pleases McLaren

Two teams have already gone to court over securing his services. He’s left the squad that brought him through the junior ranks and drawn critical comment from some of biggest characters in the paddock regarding his character. All even while he’s yet to drive a Formula 1 car in competition. No pressure then, Oscar Piastri...

Unsurprisingly for a driver that left home at 14 to follow their dream half a world away, he doesn’t view it that way. When Autosport asks what he makes of the impression created by the Alpine-McLaren tug-of-war over getting him into a 2023 F1 race seat last summer, which he refers to as “the drama”, Piastri is unequivocal: “I don't think it adds any pressure”.

But, given how much the F1 paddock revels in drama of any kind, let alone only the third requirement of the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board, it certainly raises the interest level surrounding the 21-year-old. This should’ve been high in any case given his run of junior championships, where he demonstrated excellent racecraft and a knack for adapting fast to new machinery, and showing a confident, charming character.

Now the wraps have come off the MCL60 challenger with which Piastri will make his F1 bow next month, there’s just 1.5 days of testing in Bahrain for the Australian to adapt to his new position and try to shake off “a bit of rust” that he acknowledges will have built up “having not raced for a year”. That followed his storming 2021 F2 campaign and time spent on the sidelines as Alpine’s reserve while it dithered over his future.

It was halfway through that F2 run, Piastri says, that he realised “realistically getting into F1 shifted from a dream to a goal”. Now that goal is finally to be achieved and he’ll be “getting paid to drive race cars” for the first time, after a pre-season where McLaren has worked to get him as prepared as possible despite the 50% reduction in testing compared to the first season of the new ground-effects era.

The team arranged a programme of cockpit systems training, simulator running and practice in its 2021 MCL35M at Paul Ricard and Barcelona, as well as having Piastri drive its 2022 car in the post-season Abu Dhabi test after his Alpine release. McLaren is famously so keen on Piastri it paid his compatriot Daniel Ricciardo to exit his contract a year early. But it’s also hopeful his arrival will spur established star Lando Norris on to reach new heights across the garage.

PLUS: How can McLaren keep hold of Norris?

The new McLaren driver line-up will be one of the most intriguing pairings for 2023

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Given the Briton’s reputation is sky-high having dented Ricciardo’s own so comprehensively in the last two seasons, a further step keeping ahead of a fast rookie team-mate would create a potent line-up at McLaren – possibly running F1’s current best at Mercedes and Ferrari close.

But that’s if Piastri can deliver such good results. And the mood emanating from the McLaren camp after its Woking factory launch this week is one of tempered expectations. The MCL60 will be the last solely developed in Toyota’s rented Cologne windtunnel, with McLaren’s new tunnel – as well as a new simulator and manufacturing facility – expected to be finished mid-year. Subsequent development progress will then take the cliched long-term – especially in F1’s new cost cap era.

PLUS: Why McLaren's 2023 may be a building year, despite new F1 car's Red Bull hints

But after the disastrous years with Ricciardo – around his glorious charge to 2021 Italian Grand Prix victory – Piastri’s arrival alone is a positive moment for the still-rebuilding McLaren squad, which is celebrating the 60th anniversary of its founding in 2023.

“I've continued to see a driver that's very focused on racing,” McLaren boss Zak Brown says of his new charge, after hitting out again at the “unfair and inaccurate accusations” levelled at Piastri during his contract spat last year.

“[Oscar] is a man of few words but the right words. That’s become very apparent. [He’s] certainly focused and also demanding” Andrea Stella

“To talk to him about what [he was doing] on New Years, and it's: ‘just chilling out, thinking about racing’. [That] is what you want to hear. He's a very focused, calm individual. We've seen that in a racing environment as well [during his F3/F2 rise on the F1 support bill].”

Brown is speaking inside the sub-terrain conference auditorium at the McLaren Technology Centre – a Star Wars-esque United Nations General Assembly Hall. Alongside him is not another new signing, but a man on a new stage: Andreas Seidl’s in-house replacement as team principal: Andrea Stella.

The ex-Ferrari Michael Schumacher and Kimi Raikkonen performance engineer, and Fernando Alonso race engineer, during his 15-year stint working in Maranello makes quite the first impression in his first appearance in the orange F1 race team’s top job. He’s precise and generous in his answers, and wonderfully candid at times. One such explanation on his early impression of working with Piastri is revealing.

“There's a characteristic we like a lot,” Stella explains. “[Oscar] is a man of few words but the right words. That’s become very apparent. [He’s] certainly focused and also demanding. This characteristic you can see already. The focus goes into being demanding to the team. And this will certainly help elevate standards [at McLaren].”

There's a new number to spot on the McLaren F1 car

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Considering its physical and high-profile nature, rookie drivers can’t really make a low-key entrance to F1. But at the third-most successful squad in the championship’s history in terms of constructors’ titles, which is somewhat reeling from the impact of a supposedly top-drawer driver losing his way in its machines so spectacularly that it cost the team fourth in the 2022 constructors’ standings, it seems Piastri definitely isn’t doing that anyway. And McLaren is delighted.

Pressed to explain what he means by Piastri being “demanding” – a word not overly loaded with positive connotations to many observers – Stella uses an example from the training tasks McLaren drew up for its rookie this off-season. Given audio files of in-race team communications from recent seasons, Piastri, Stella says, was rapidly getting “to the bottom of matters and even questioning like: ‘Why did you guys do this? You could have done that. You could have done this’.

“Somehow he challenges you,” Stella adds, “in a very polite and constructive way. But he doesn't take things superficially or just kind of stop challenging just for pleasing the environment.

“This is not what we want, we want to be challenged. And in this sense, I said that he's a demanding guy that should help elevate the standards, just by, in a way if you allow me to say, being almost constantly a little unhappy. Which is a good position for a driver to be. [And we been] impressed.”

Stella also revealed that Piastri had been quickly able to “go very close to the limit just exploring his own resources with a lot of awareness in the process” during his sim sessions held so far at the MTC. But his initial explanation, no doubt familiar from working with relentless taskmasters Schumacher and Alonso, paints a familiar scene and one that should encourage McLaren fans as much as its engineers.

This description of Piastri evokes a similar picture of George Russell’s arrival at Williams in 2019 – epitomised spectacularly in the first season of Drive to Survive and a brutal British GP debrief. This doesn’t mean Piastri is creating drama for the sake of it, or even being particularly vocal, but he’s apparently unrelenting in his expectations of himself and therefore his new team too.

The last two Australians to race in F1 had success stories, even if both Mark Webber and Ricciardo failed to reach to the ultimate title-winning heights. The former, also Piastri’s manager, was outwardly tough with his ‘Aussie Grit’ persona, while Ricciardo famously ever-smiling. So, where does Piastri see himself in such excellent company?

Piastri has a useful ally in manager Webber on dealing with F1 pressure and expectations

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

“We're in an incredibly serious business and sport, and you need to show that element of seriousness,” he explains. “But, at the same time, it's a pretty awesome place to be.

“And so, I think treating it with some fun and realising how privileged we are to be in this position is something to be conscious of. I think where I sit: serious when I need to be serious, but I have a bit of a laugh when I can as well.

“It's important not to take yourself [and] to take life too seriously all the time. A bit of fun every now and again is always important. But when it's time for business, then it's all hands on deck trying to ultimately in this in the sport go as fast as possible.”

That’s confident, open and demanding drive, which McLaren hopes will help power the next phase of its long F1 revival.

What can Piastri produce in his rookie F1 season?

Photo by: McLaren