AUSTRALIAN Oscar Piastri has brushed off any external pressure for him in his maiden Formula 1 season.<\/p>\n
The former F2 champion got his McLaren career underway with a tough start in his first official race last weekend in F1 in Bahrain, struggling to keep pace with McLaren teammate Lando Norris.<\/p>\n
Although the McLaren car looked well below the pace in the practice sessions, Piastri struggled to handle the car going into the sharp corners, losing crucial lap times in the process.<\/p>\n
Despite this, Piastri remains calm about the expectations placed on him this year and acknowledged his result in the junior categories gives him all the confidence he needs.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think in terms of my junior results, obviously it\u2019s been my ticket to F1, so I think for me it\u2019s only a good thing that I can look back at with confidence,\u201d Piastri said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think regarding the contract situation last year, I think it\u2019s closed and it\u2019s pretty clear cut, so I don\u2019t think that aspect, in particular, adds anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think obviously there\u2019s an element of expectation, but I think that\u2019s to be expected for a rookie. We\u2019re one of 20 drivers in Formula 1 so there\u2019s always going to be a lot of eyes on us.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo, I don\u2019t think that\u2019s really been affected too much.\u201d<\/p>\n
Piastri stated his enjoyment during his early start at McLaren but noted the battle of adjusting to such a large-scale team.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, it\u2019s been great so far, settling in well. Obviously been with the team at the back end of last year a little bit, I spent a lot of time at the factory this side of Christmas as well,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s been good, everyone\u2019s been very welcoming, I\u2019m getting to know the whole team better and better every day and yeah, it\u2019s nice to be finally back to the racetrack driving.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s definitely a step up, I think, coming from the junior categories.<\/p>\n
\u201cFirstly the size of the team is a lot bigger by a magnitude of 10 or more, that side of things takes getting used to, just trying to remember hundreds and hundreds of people.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut also just being one of two drivers in a team where you make your own car, you don\u2019t get given the car by a manufacturer of a series, and that\u2019s I guess a nice privilege to have and nice to be able to have some input into that.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s nice to be calling myself a Formula 1 driver.\u201d<\/p>\n