Oscar Piastri doesn't think McLaren F1 will be the favorite team in Las Vegas, but he hopes to play a bigger role in the fight for victory there than in 2023. The Australian still has to acclimatize to a track that He hasn't experimented since last year.
“I think Ferrari will be strong, especially here” Piastri said. “It's a track that, on paper, will suit them well. I hope we'll be better than last year, and I'd rather be in our championship position than Ferrari's. I hope for a good weekend here, and the next two should be good.”
“It's a unique weekend for several reasons, but the track is special. There are a lot of straights, it's cold, there's little grip, and I haven't seen the track since “Last year, except for a marketing event yesterday, and it looked shiny and dusty, so the grip shouldn't be very good.”
Asked about the fact that he should no longer play the role of number 2 for Lando Norris, while the latter's chances in the drivers' championship have been drastically reduced in Brazil, Piastri admitted that the constructors' crown is indeed McLaren's priority. .
“We are largely focusing on the manufacturers, the chances in the drivers' championship are very slim. I am free to qualify as well as possible and race for myself, but if there are specific scenarios, I will help. But for the the vast majority of situations, we return to the initial situation.”
“The chances of winning the Drivers' Championship are very slim, and the Constructors' Championship is definitely not over for us. It's definitely not a done deal, so that's definitely the most important thing.”
The Australian driver is delighted to be able to regain his chances of victory intact and does not regret that McLaren asked him to leave the Sprint victory to Norris in Brazil.
“Being able to return to McLaren's preferred approach of 'two number one drivers' is nice but I wasn't too bothered by my sacrifice in Sao Paulo. To be honest, I wasn't that disappointed with having given up the victory in the Sprint Of course, I would have liked to win the Sprint, but it is a very different scenario from a Grand Prix.
“I proved what I wanted to prove, by qualifying on pole, and that was just for myself. Qualifying on pole for the sprint, even though I won the sprint, qualifying on pole was probably the most satisfying thing for me.”
“I knew I did the right things in the sprint, and that's good for me. I'm glad we don't have to do those kinds of tricks as often anymore.”
“And obviously next year, I want to make sure that I'm not in a position, championship-wise, where I'm subject to that. But in reality, I probably needed to help at that point- there in Brazil and that's it. So, there was a lot of talk and little action on the track.
