When McLaren called up Lando Norris to Formula 1 in 2019, the Woking-based team promised him a championship-winning challenger in the subsequent years. But McLaren’s upward momentum in 2020 plateaued a year later, bringing Norris’ hopes for a championship with McLaren to a standstill. To avoid a similar situation with its rookie driver, Oscar Piastri, McLaren didn’t make any short-term promises. But as a driver, he would want a competitive car, at least in the midfield—if not at the front. And so far this season, McLaren has failed to deliver.  

Although the MCL60s pace hasn’t been up to the mark, Piastri’s performances have exceeded expectations. Norris is considered one of the fastest drivers on the grid, and Piastri is giving him a run for his money in a way that his compatriot, Daniel Ricciardo, failed to do. But even though he’s scored only five points in the eight races so far, given McLaren’s pace, he’s punched above his weight on multiple occasions. With McLaren set to bring upgrades to Austria, Oscar can’t contain his excitement.

Oscar Pistri is hopeful of McLaren’s upgrade package

Upgrades come with the hope of making a car faster. And getting faster is what McLaren and Oscar Piastri are desperately chasing. The Woking outfit sits at an underwhelming P6 in the championship, miles behind Alpine in P5 and slightly ahead of Alfa Romeo in P7. McLaren finished P3 in 202, P4 in 2021, and P5 in 2022. If the pattern is anything to go by, McLaren will finish P6 this season. But that’s not how F1 works (at Least McLaren will hope it doesn’t) because a team finishing lower than it did the previous season comes as a gut punch. And McLaren is determined not to face any again.

It’s set to introduce an upgrade package over the next three races to make the car more competitive. While talking about this in an interview, as quoted by speedcafe.com, Piastri exclaimed, “I’m excited for what’s to come in the future, and the not-too-distant future now, which is nice.” The Red Bull Ring is a track McLaren has performed well at in the past, and the Australian would like to continue it into this year as well. 

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As much as he is looking forward to Austria and the upgrades, he believes McLaren has maximized the package it has right now and has done all it can, which is why the only way from here is up. “I feel like, as a team, we’ve done a very good job of getting the most out of the package we have at the moment,” he said. But given his excitement for the first round of upgrades, the Austrian GP can’t come soon enough.

Oscar Piastri is ready for the Austria challenge

The Austrian GP will feature the second Sprint Shootout of the season. In the new format, teams get only one practice session on Friday before qualifying on the same day. Saturday is dedicated only to the Sprint, and Sunday, like always, is race day. The last Sprint weekend happened in Baku, a street circuit. But Red Bull Ring being a conventional one, Piastri believes that, given how many times he’s raced there before in F2 and F3, it will make things easier. 

The feeder categories to F1 have two races in one weekend—a sprint and a feature race—much like what F1 is doing now. While discussing this challenge in Austria, he said, “That’s what I grew up with in the junior categories and in Formula 3 and Formula 2. So it’s not that unusual for me.” And with McLaren’s new package, Piastri will try to make the most of both races. 

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McLaren’s new upgrades will aim to make the MCL60 faster and more competitive. Do you think the Woking outfit will manage to deliver on its promises?