Despite Zak Brown & Co.’s Abysmal Start, Oscar Piastri Gaslights Himself for Far From Perfect F1 Debut

The F1 world has witnessed 12 racing rounds in 2023. Some of these have been regarded as boring, while others have raised the stakes of this intense competition to new heights.
While Max Verstappen and company stood apart from any such feelings, this season, the team with a rookie had to carry all the weight. More than a few rookies have made their debuts this season. The one to watch out for among them remained the promising rookie and F2 winner Oscar Piastri. Zak Brown and company, however, had to endure a disastrous start as a result of the primary developments failing to reach their intended destination. And despite that, the rookie driver gaslighted himself to have a far-from-flawless F1 commence.

The Melbourne driver did, however, initially show his potential, but was unable to capitalize on it owing to McLaren‘s difficulties with the vehicle. And despite having a sluggish car, as seen by the results of the Spanish and Miami Grand Prix. the 22-year-old has identified himself as the primary cause of his far-from-perfect F1 debut. Although it was Zak Brown and Co. who failed to provide a competent car to the rookie at the beginning of the season, Piastri was keen on gaslighting himself as he criticized his errors from Barcelona’s rounds.

While speaking with Speedcafe Piastri rated his maiden season by saying, “If I was to give a grade, I would say probably a B.” He also highlighted the incident at Barcelona as he added, “I think Barcelona qualifying, in the end, it didn’t make that much difference to our results on Sunday, but when you have those opportunities to qualify high up on the grid… At that point in the season was a rarity for us.”

And despite having the performance like the Belgian GP and Hungarian GP, Piastri believes he has marred the season with his mistakes, and while wrapping up his statement he said, “There have just been a few too many mistakes for my liking. I always try to, like everyone, get the most out of what I’ve got available, and I just feel like at a few races this year I’ve missed out on opportunities to capitalise.”

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Despite the fact that Piastri gave his season a B so far, he has recently spoken extensively about how the sacrifices made during his childhood enabled him to achieve the success he enjoys today. What then are those sacrifices?

How did Oscar Piastri overcome obstacles to achieve his dream of competing in Formula 1?

In the seventy years of F1 history, there have been drivers who rose to the top ranks rather easily. However, the path has been difficult for drivers like Lewis Hamilton and Oscar Piastri. And since we are all familiar with Hamilton’s journey, Piastri has experienced similar-level obstacles.

According to Piastri, it wasn’t simple. And he cited moving to a boarding school and leaving behind family and friends as the main barrier to it. Formula Passion cited Piastri as saying, “It wasn’t easy. I knew it was something I had to do to have a chance of making it to Formula 1 and it worked out in the end.”

He added, “Leaving my family and friends in Australia was difficult, but in the end, I knew I had to. I think the way we did it was very clever. Going to boarding school allowed me to continue my studies while running, as well as a sense of community.”

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Now that Piastri has a competent car and the ability to perform, can he repeat the feat which Lewis Hamilton did 15 years ago?