Oscar Piastri delivers clear F1 rival admission: 'It's always hard to be genuine friends'

Oscar Piastri has shared how difficult he believes being "genuine friends" with fellow F1 drivers is, given the complex nature of a relationship with a direct rival.

The Australian has spoken glowingly about how McLaren handles his partnership with Lando Norris, and insists they were unaffected by going toe-to-toe for the F1 drivers' championship last year, which his team-mate ultimately won.

However, the nine-time grand prix winner does not feel the paddock is conducive to building relationships with those he shares the circuit with.

With manager Mark Webber having stepped back from being trackside this season, Piastri was asked whether he relies on any other drivers for advice or support.

"No, not really," the 25-year-old replied on the High Performance Podcast. "Going back to relationships with different people on the grid, I think, especially now in F1, there's a massive level of respect between all the drivers.

"But having respect for one another and being friends with one another are two very different things.

Explaining why, he added: "For me, it's always hard to be genuine friends with somebody that 24 times a year you've got to go on track and prove that you're better than them, basically, or compete against them."

F1 is a 'tricky old business'

In decades past, drivers would barely speak to one another, and many former racers cannot understand the cordial nature of the current paddock.

Whilst Piastri lies somewhere between, that is not to say that he does not have friendships within motorsport, but the McLaren driver prefers to keep things clean and simple, to prevent risking handing anyone a competitive advantage.

"And I think that's why probably a lot of... some of the closest friendships in racing between racing drivers that are in two different series or that have been team-mates, whether it be in the junior ranks or ex-team-mates in F1 that are now no longer either in the same team as each other or at different ends of the grid, because there's not that same competitive tension between the two of them," he said.

"So I get on with a lot of the drivers, and there's definitely some I'm more friendly with than others — and again, some ex-team-mates that I've had in the junior ranks, because we're not racing against each other anymore.

"We can relate to each other a lot because we're both racing drivers, both doing the same job in different series, so there's a lot to talk about, and now there's not that awkwardness of going, 'Oh, well, I really want to talk to you about this, but if I talk to you about it, is it going to give you ideas on how you ideas on how you can beat me next time?' and all of those kind of things. So it's a tricky old business."