Piastri confident after “very small sample size” of success

Carrying strong momentum from a proud victory in Shanghai, a “refined” Oscar Piastri says his priority moving forward is to “maintain that level of performance” while sharpening his focus on his championship ambitions.

Having had a week off to reflect on a successful Chinese Grand Prix which rewarded the #81 with his maiden Pole and third-career victory, Piastri arrives at the Japanese Grand Prix fuelled by confidence and determined to build on that momentum.

“I think the resurfacing [in at the Shanghai International Circuit] 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,” Piastri said.

“So, no, I was very proud of the job, firstly, I did myself, but also the whole team around me did. And, you know, 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. 

“Just very proud of that performance and, you know, I think China is quite of a specific circuit in some of the limitations so I don’t think it’s as easy as saying ‘I fixed one of my tricky 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.”

Building confidence in his growing title hopes, the Australian added: “I think Melbourne and China were two very good events — one with the result to show for it and one without, so I’ve been happy with how the whole seasons been going so far.

“You know, there’s been some things in Melbourne that I wanted to work on, the last two years as well, and I felt like I worked on those and was competitive there. And then China, obviously, kind of spoke for itself in terms of the result so, no, very confident with how we’re going about things.

“I think I kind of said in the pre-season this year that I didn’t feel necessarily a hole left in my weaknesses as a driver, it was about just making sure that the kind of ‘dips’ along the way were filled in.

“And I think, obviously, it’s been a very small sample size but I’ve been very happy, especially on one track that I struggled at a lot, you know, the performance was so different 12 months later so, yeah, I think it’s just trying to maintain that level of performance is what’s going to be important.”

While people sing praises for the results that are reflected in the encouraging standings, the Australian says he is most proud of the behind-the-scenes analytics revealed in the post-weekend debriefs. 

“I think, for me, you know, just some of the limitations in China are quite specific, especially with how damaging it is to the front tyres,” Piastri said.

“And I had some question marks on, you know, whether it was just a track or, let’s say the tyres behaved in a way that suited me more naturally, but I think after analysing the weekend, I don’t think it was just a pleasant coincidence that it was a strong weekend, I think it was down to a lot of good preparation.

“Analysing that weekend gave me probably even more confidence than what I gained during the weekend — or added more on top of that, so that’s always a really positive thing when you look back at things and feel like they’re not just been things that have gone in your favour or been lucky with.

“They’ve been good for a reason or a number of reasons, that was a really satisfying conclusion from China that wasn’t necessarily from the result.”

After outscoring Lando Norris in both the Sprint and main event, the Australian now sits with 24 points to his name, ten points behind the championship-leading McLaren driver.

Filling the space between the teammates, both Max Verstappen and George Russell have capitalised despite the MCL39 appearing to be the quickest challenger, with Piastri looking to make some amendments to the order after the Japanese Grand Prix. 

“You never want to give any advantage away, whether it’s lap time, points, you never want to give it away if you don’t have to,” Piastri said. 

“Of course, I want to try and reverse that gap that we have, but with 22 races to go, it would be a pretty stressful year if you were worrying about that gap already. 

“So I think for me, it’s trying to make sure I execute every weekend to the best that I can, and I feel the first two weekends of the year, have been good examples of that, and I think if you do that, then the point will naturally just take care of itself, so yeah, that’s all.”

Locking in on his championship charge, Piastri’s race-by-race mentality is holding strong despite the Australian’s acknowledgement of how periodical dominance can shape the title fight. 

“I think, for me, yes, they (championships) can be won and lost at the start of the year but they can also be won and lost at the end of the year,” he said.

“You know, the first six races are just as important as the last six, but obviously, the last six, you get a much better picture of where everyone sits and stuff like that.

“I’ve had plenty of championships myself where you look at the gaps and where you’ve lost points and stuff like that and you generally don’t really look at where in the year they came.

“You just look at the fact that you did have points that you lost through the season at some point.”

The start of Oscar Piastri’s Japanese Grand Prix campaign will kick off with FP1 at 13:30 AEDT, with the weekend returning to a conventional format for Round 3 of the 2025 Formula 1 season. 

Image: McLaren

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