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Oscar Piastri has been waiting a long time but admits his first public appearance as a McLaren driver is a special day in his career.
Piastri was arrested The tug of war is halfway through Controversy arose between McLaren and Alpine over his summer services, with the FIA’s contract recognition committee settling the matter.
Piastri, who was finally cleared for McLaren at the Pirelli tire test in Abu Dhabi, made his debut for his new team in the 2022 car on Tuesday, completing 123 laps of the day.
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“It’s a cool feeling,” Piastri said. “I had a very different feeling compared to the youth driver test I did last year because I knew it was a day of fun in F1 and this year it was the building block for next year.
“But my first day at McLaren was fantastic, getting to know everyone in the team and trying to improve and get back up to speed for next year’s race. A special one.”
Piastri drove a 2021 car for McLaren for a private test ahead of his visit to Abu Dhabi, but stressed that knowing the abilities of the team he works with is as important as making the car itself comfortable.
“That’s one of the keys to a day like today. It’s pointless in terms of lap times because you never know what the other guys are doing. That’s not the first port of call of the day, [it’s] Get to know my engineers, mechanics and everyone on the team.
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“There’s a lot of new names to learn, and that’s one of the most important things these days—especially communicating well with the engineers on the team, understanding how we get feedback and what we want to tweak, and starting to learn from each other. That’s 100% today.”
Alpine and McLaren have struck a deal for Piastri to start working full-time for the team by the end of the year, which the Australian admits will give him a lead in 2023 that he would otherwise not have.
“It’s really very positive, driving the car today is the most positive thing, you obviously can’t replace track time with anything. So I think today is particularly important, it’s a very positive thing.
“Then I guess working on the peripherals, getting to know my engineers and everyone on the team better, and if I want to change something next year, I can talk to people.
“I’m really looking forward to being able to design some of my own little things if I want, all the background material that isn’t necessarily going to be seen, and that’s all I can do for the next six weeks.
“next week I’ll be doing a formal presentation at the factory which will be good and meeting everyone there. Lots of people to meet so I’m looking forward to it. Afterwards, continue working in the sim to get to know my engineers and mechanics better division. These are big-ticket items that need attention when you’re not driving.”
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