Speaking ahead of the Japanese GP, Oscar Piastri is “very proud” following a strong start to the 2025 F1 season, with the young Aussie citing his Chinese GP victory as a key marker of his growth over last season.
Fresh from his first win of the year, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri delves into his thoughts on the opening two races.
Talking in a print media session on Thursday ahead of the F1 Japanese GP, the Piastri shared his pride at his improvements over 2024.
When asked about his improvement over last season, where he struggled massively in China and was a long way off Lando Norris, Piastri shared that his preparation was refined. He admits he was proud of his victory, having beaten his teammate, who last year finished 43 seconds ahead.
“I wouldn’t say completely different, but definitely refined,” he said when asked about his preparation compared to 2024. “I think China was a circuit I struggled at a lot 12 months ago. I think the resurfacing changed things a little bit in terms of some of the limitations, but I think in terms of how we prepared for it and how we executed that weekend, it was a very big step up from 2024.
“I was very proud of the job that, firstly, I did myself, but also the whole team around me did. That’s not just as simple as having a more competitive car than we did 12 months ago. I think we did a much better job of maximising the car we had this year. I’m just very proud of that performance.”
Reflecting on his improvements evident at the Chinese GP, he stated that the goal was to continue throughout the season. Shanghai is a front-limited track where the front tyres take a pounding.
“I think China is quite a specific circuit in some of the limitations, so I don’t think it’s as easy as saying I’ve fixed one of my trickiest circuits from last year, I can fix all of them. I hope I can, but there’s going to be some different challenges along the way.”
When pushed on his confidence for the 22 Grands Prix still to come, Piastri backed himself. Reflecting on the opening two races he believes both were good performances. Despite a late error in Australia dropping him from P2 to P9, he believes his improvement was notable.
“I think very confident,” he said. “I think Melbourne and China have both been two very good events. One with the result to show for it and one without. I’ve been happy with how the whole season’s been going so far.
“There’s been some things in Melbourne that I wanted to work on from the last two years as well, and I felt like I worked on those and was competitive there. Then China obviously spoke for itself in terms of results. I’m feeling very confident with how we’re going about things.”
Expanding on his thoughts, the McLaren man explained that maintaining his current level of performance will be the challenge. Despite this, he remains optimistic for the season ahead, once again citing his Chinese GP victory as a key indicator.
“I think I said in the pre-season this year,” he continued. “That I didn’t feel like there was necessarily a hole left in my weaknesses as a driver. It was about just making sure that the dips along the way were filled in.
“I think obviously it’s been a very small sample size, but I’ve been happy that, especially on one track that I struggled at a lot, the performance was so different 12 months later. I think just trying to maintain that level of performance is what’s going to be important.”
Heading into the Chinese GP, the 23-year-old is P4 in the standings, 10 points behind teammate Lando Norris.
