Oscar Piastri pinpoints critical area of improvement during F1 title bid

Oscar Piastri has labelled his consistency as the biggest area of improvement amid his third season in F1.

The Australian has enjoyed a strong start to the year and currently leads the drivers' championship by 10 points over team-mate Lando Norris.

Piastri has secured five grands prix wins in the opening nine events and has shown strong speed in the head-to-head battle with Norris.

Maintaining a constant advantage over Norris proved tricky for Piastri in the past, with the former often having the upper hand.

When asked where he has made the biggest step this year, Piastri told media including RacingNews365: “I think for me, it's just been consistency, more than anything.

“The racecraft, I don't think, has really changed much. I’ve just been racing for wins instead of fourth and fifth.

“The maturity has probably taken a step just in [terms of] adapting or changing my mindset a little bit on certain things, pushing a little bit more to get those last few hundredths.

“I felt like there were a lot of times last year, especially in qualifying, I was just on the wrong side of that few hundredths.

“Now I'm starting to be on the right side of it a bit more often, which is nice.

“I’m just always trying to find that next step to improve.”

Piastri's only notable slip-up came at the opening round of the year in Australia when a sudden downpour dropped him down the pecking order.

It marked the only time this year Piastri has failed to finish on the podium.

“There have not been too many downs,” Piastri reflected. 

“Obviously, Melbourne was certainly not enough, but it's been a nice, kind of nice kind of roll since then.

“Imola was a reminder that not everything is going to go perfectly this year. And we've got to try and learn from those days.”