26/06/2025 06:30
Oscar Piastri has explained how he is reluctant to make his charge
for a maiden F1 championship as a "do or die" mission. The
Australian is into his third F1 season with McLaren, and is leading
the drivers' standings by 22 points from team-mate Lando Norris
with five wins from the 10 races so far. Piastri has been regarded
as the mentally stronger of the two McLaren drivers, with Norris
also suffering the blow of crashing into Piastri and losing 12
points at the Canadian Grand Prix. Not since Sebastian Vettel in
2009 (his second full-time season) has a driver challenged for a
world championship so early in their full-time career as Piastri,
as he detailed his mindset to approaching the title race. "For me,
I am not looking at this as my one chance, and I don't think there
is any use in putting extra pressure on yourself, and making things
do or die," Piastri told media, including RacingNews365. "I am
still very early in my career, and obviously, it is a great
opportunity, but I'll just try and win as many races as I can, and
hopefully, that makes the championship look quite good in the end.
"For me, something I've learned through my junior career and first
years of my F1 career is that you need time away from Formula 1,
because otherwise, it can get pretty draining, pretty quickly. "Now
it is a slightly different situation for me in terms of fighting
for a championship, and I've learned my lessons already on how I
perform my best and how I come to each weekend fresh. "I am
enjoying the position we are in, it is fun trying to win races and
fight for a championship and certainly at the moment, the pressure
is not that different. "I'm just trying to go out there and do my
best, and now that looks like trying to fight for a win instead of
trying to fight for a podium or for points."
