Piastri “a bit more pushy” at McLaren, but won’t give engineers orders

Oscar Piastri has fine-tuned how he works with the McLaren team and is ‘not afraid to be a bit more pushy’ having completed his second campaign in Formula 1.

Piastri played a key role in McLaren’s world constructors’ title in his sophomore season, scoring two grand prix wins and eight podiums, with a streak of 12 top-five finishes in 13 rounds in the middle of the year.

The 23-year-old has also been growing off the track, learning to take more leadership when working with the squad’s engineers – but not overstepping his authority.

Asked by Autosport in an exclusive interview if he played a bigger role in pushing and motivating the team in 2024, Piastri replied: “I would say not in my demeanour or the way I’m working with the team. Maybe I know a little bit more of what I want from the team or from the car, but I think for the large part it’s very, very similar.

“I’m certainly not now in my second year telling the aerodynamicists how to design the car and stuff like that. I’m still trying to give the same helpful feedback where I can.

“Maybe now that I know some more people, I’m not as afraid to be a bit more pushy in what I ask for. But I have certainly not changed my personality from year to year. That just comes with experience, and the best way I can help is by trying to do my best every weekend.”

Piastri is also pleased with his working relationship with Lando Norris, as the McLaren drivers are set to team up again in 2025 and 2026.

“I think part of why we’ve had so much success in going forward is that Lando and I work very well together on that kind of thing,” the Australian added. “We have always wanted very similar things from the car. So I think that’s very useful for the team.

“As long as we keep saying the same things then, while it means that we’re still not on top of them, [it] also [means] that we’re still working very much in the same wavelength.”