McLaren starts its Formula 1 campaign on the back foot and is racing towards the back of the field before succeeding the lead over the peloton in the second half of the campaign.
Oscar Piastri believes McLaren is gradually becoming “more comfortable” with its competitive position on the Formula 1 grid.
The Woking team started the current campaign on the right foot, but have successfully developed the their cars throughout the season, with large packages going to Austria and Singapore, pushing the team from its position as the second fastest team behind Red Bull.
Piastri and Lando Norris have claimed nine podiums in the last 11 races and are now on track to finish the season fourth in the Constructors’ Championship, with further progress hampered due to a slow start to the season.
Despite a brief resurgence in mid-2021, McLaren has largely remained middle-of-the-road since Zak Brown took over as CEO in 2018, with the team struggling, though progress is finally being made, with Piastri describing how the team is adapting to life as a front-runner again.
Piastri hails McLaren Correlation
“I always believed in the team that if we had a car that was capable of fighting at the front, we wouldn’t be willing to do that,” Piastri told media, including RacingNews365.
“I think we were able to show that in the second half. The development and progress in the automotive sector in particular has been amazing.
“We’re more and more comfortable now while in front.
“Instead of calling some other team the best team, they are now our rivals.
“Piastri points out that a key factor in McLaren’s resurgence is the correlation between factory data and the car on the track.
“It was really a turning point,” he said.
“The first upgrade we did really gave us a performance boost, and everything else since has done the same.
“The most encouraging thing is that everything we I wanted to put on the car and everything we would change with the car did what it was supposed to do.
“All the numbers we expected were essentially the same in real life, which is something you can’t always take for granted. I think it’s remarkable.”