F1 – The Australian pilot Oscar Piastri is experiencing the most difficult moment of his current season in McLaren. I United States Grands Prix and of Mexico they were far from memorable for the young Australian driver.
In Austin he was eliminated during Q1 of the Sprint Qualifying, thus compromising his Texan Sprint Race. In qualifying for the main race he placed himself in fifth position, over half a second behind polemanhis teammate, Lando Norris. In the race he confirmed his qualifying position without shining
In Mexico, after having raised hopes by taking first place in the third free practice session, in the afternoon qualifying he made a mistake in Q1, going outside the track limits at the entrance to the baseball stadium, which caused the time to be cancelled. On the next lap he tries to remedy the situation, but there isn’t enough time to get into Q2, leaving him stuck outside the top.
These two poor performances by Piastri allowed the Ferrari to get closer to McLaren in the constructors’ standings. In just two Grands Prix, the Rossa has climbed up to 29 points from the Woking team, with four Grands Prix and two Sprint Races remaining since the end of the season. Just over a month ago, in Singapore, the constructors’ title already seemed to be headed towards Surrey, but now it could go back to Maranello.
Piastri benefited from the choices of the team, which, to maintain internal serenity, preferred to concentrate on the fight for the constructors’ title rather than giving priority to those, like Norris, who are competing for the drivers’ title. At a media level, the Australian was forgiven everything, perhaps due to the often unjustified antipathy and distrust that the public and professionals have towards Norris.
Oscar Piastri, pilot McLarenMcLaren, Oscar Piastri has disappointed expectations
After the break between September and October, Piastri did not repay the team’s trust, and his subpar performances called into question a constructors’ title that seemed almost closed.
McLaren has a lot to blame itself for this year. Given the unexpected leap forward, perhaps he should have kept more tabs on the young driver, with a bright future ahead, and favored the more experienced Norris in the race for the drivers’ title.
Lando lived through the most difficult moments, sportingly speaking, of the historic English team and the role of first driver should have been recognized to him. The Woking team, due to its initial uncertainty and stubbornness in wanting to apply the infamous “papaya rules“, risks losing both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles, to use a Neapolitan saying, “Losing Filippo e ‘o panaro”.
If McLaren were to fail in their main objective of bringing the constructors’ title back to Woking after 26 years, it would be a heavy stain to erase for Piastri, who has all the qualities to become a future world champion, but who today is not yet ready.
Keep your head down and work hard: nothing is lost yet, but a scolding could be good for him, his entourage, the team and all those who revolve around Formula 1, subjects who are perhaps too indulgent towards him.
Photo credits: McLaren F1
