Source : ABC NEWS
A refreshed Oscar Piastri will be out to pick up in Miami, where he left off in Suzuka to reignite his Formula 1 championship bid.
Using the enforced break to its advantage, McLaren is set to unveil an overhauled car for the sprint and 57-lap race at the Miami Grand Prix, which will be held on Monday morning AEST.
There has been no racing since March, with the Bahrain and Saudi Arabia races called off due to the Iran war.
Piastri had just found his feet in Japan after a nightmare start to the year, having failed to make the starting grid in Melbourne and Shanghai.
In Suzuka, the 25-year-old burst from the blocks and finished runner-up to Mercedes ace Kimi Antonelli.
Piastri has since filled his month with extra time on the simulator as McLaren worked on tweaks to remain competitive with Mercedes, which has won all three races so far.
The Melbourne-born driver said his Suzuka second-place finish was a “just reflection” of where he was in his championship hopes.
Antonelli leads the series with a nine-point buffer over teammate George Russell.
Piastri is sixth, behind fellow McLaren driver and defending champion Lando Norris.
“You look at it in the history books in 10 years and say, ‘OK, I finished second,'” Piastri told podcast High Performance.
“But honestly, I would probably put that second-place (finish) higher in my list of personal achievements than probably 50 per cent of those wins that I’ve had so far.
“Because I know that I didn’t leave anything on the table on that weekend.
“I got the absolute most out of myself from practice. I got very close to the absolute most in qualifying.
“I got the absolute most out of the race, and we were quick enough to finish second: me and the car, and the team.”
The new car, with engines provided by Mercedes, will boast aerodynamic upgrades as McLaren continues to explore the new power unit.
Piastri is not the only driver adjusting to the revamp, with four-time champion Max Verstappen the most outspoken critic.
The Red Bull star, ninth in the standings, compared the sport to Mario Kart and hinted in Suzuka he could walk away from the sport.
“I’ll be honest with you, there’s a lot of rules I still need to actually look through and see what specifically that changes,” Piastri said.
“Time will tell. I think there probably will need to be some further tweaks. How easy they are to implement this year, we don’t know.
“I’m sure there’ll be some changes probably next year or in the future, but it’s definitely going in the right direction.”
AAP
