Oscar Piastri has significantly improved his tire management in the 2024 Formula 1 season – The Australian speaks of a big step forward
“I don’t know if ‘master’ is the right word, but I’ve improved massively,” says Oscar Piastri at the end of a successful 2024 Formula One season. The 26-year-old took two victories and was regularly among the frontrunners. According to the Australian, his tire management has improved significantly compared to 2023, which is why he was more successful with McLaren.
“I think it’s like night and day,” the youngster compares his skills in the 2023 and 2024 seasons. However, the McLaren driver does not want to talk about perfection, because even in 2024, he still had problems getting the tires into the optimal working window in some races.
But what has Piastri been working on to better handle the Pirelli tires? “I now have a better idea of what I can proactively do to manage the tires,” reports the race winner from Hungary and Azerbaijan. “I had to take the hard way and gain experience. It was painful. But I think I’ve improved a lot in that area.”
While he continuously lost ground to his teammate Lando Norris in the races during his rookie year, the young wildcards from McLaren were on an equal footing in the 2024 season. According to Piastri, when a newcomer comes to the premier class, there is not enough time to deal with the tires: “You can only learn by racing. Of course, you can also try something in practice, but you never know if it will work because you don’t come anywhere close to the race distance.”
That’s why only the race counts, which is why inexperienced drivers in particular are doomed to try out techniques for getting to grips with the tires just when it matters. ‘That can sometimes be a real headache in the race,’ says Piastri. “If you make a mistake, you can’t just try again. It directly affects the race result. It was frustrating at times last year, but we’ve improved a lot in 2024. I’m glad I had that experience.”