Oscar Piastri says the pressure to fight for the Formula 1 Championship is similar to his junior title, but his past successes show him “not a magic formula.”
Randorris has won back-to-back races in Austria and Silverstone, cutting Piastri’s lead to just eight points at the top of the ranking, but Australia is the first to lead the way since Saudi Arabia in April. Piastri is already fighting for titles in his third season in Formula 1, with three championship runnings in Formula Lanno in 2019, F3 in 2020 and F2 in 2021 offering him valuable experience.
“It’s a bit of a different scenario because the season is so long in Formula 1. If the junior career championship taught me anything, I think it means there’s one way to go about it,” Piastri told the racers. “I think all three I won were in a completely different way.
“Formula Renault was fast, but I think we made quite a bit of mistakes. F3 may lack the ultimate pace a bit, but it’s very consistent and I’m always there whenever I need it. F2 was a combination of consistency and pace, but there was no magic formula for how to win a championship.
“So I feel like I was trying to take lessons from it, and consistency is certainly a big part of it. But in the end you need to be consistently fast and take risks when you need it. I think that’s a balanced act.
Piastri often faces opposition from teammates in the junior category, and this season has turned into an in-team battle at McLaren again, with the 24-year-old seeing the advantages and disadvantages of the scenario.
“In a way, I think it’s going to be easier because you can see what the other person is doing. You know what they’re doing in the car, and you know how they’re driving, so there’s more insight in some respects.
“The other thing that makes it difficult is obviously when it comes to racing and strategy, I think that obviously only one of you can pit at the same time, or both of you can pit at the same time, but one of you will lose a lot.
“But there is a positive negativity to fighting that fight within the same team. I’ve seen it’s been such a difficult situation to manage, so I think we’re doing a very good job of managing that.
“So I don’t think it’s always smooth sailing, but I think it’s the way we can overcome those conflicts and those hurdles set us for long-term success.”
