Oscar Piastri insists that he has no regrets about joining McLaren following a much-publicised dispute over his services with Alpine. Piastri had been a part of the Alpine Academy before the saga erupted in the summer of 2022, with the French team and McLaren taking their cases to the Contract Recognition Board. The ruling went in McLaren's favour, leading to Piastri joining the squad for the new F1 season . While Alpine had a stronger race at the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix than McLaren, Piastri remains focused on moving forwards with the Woking-based outfit.
Piastri: I'm very focused on where I am now
"I think, for me, it was never really a decision of the two teams," Piastri told media, including RacingNews365.com , ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. "It never really came down to that. The rest of the details are all obviously very out there and have been on rinse and repeat a lot. "For me, it was clear that I wanted to go to McLaren, with the amount of passion that they showed to having me in the team, which was a massive, massive factor in that, so I don't really view it in that same light. "But, obviously, I'm very focused on where I am now and trying to help the team move forward and get back to where they want to be."
McLaren 'know what issues there are'
It proved to be a difficult rookie weekend for Piastri in Bahrain. The Australian lined up P18 on the grid before being forced to retire from the race after 13 laps owing to mechanical issues. With teammate Lando Norris also experiencing problems in the event, the team came away with no points. Despite this, Piastri feels confident that they know what they need to work on in order to improve. "I think we know what our issues are, which I guess is half the battle sometimes," the 21-year-old said. "We'll see if [Saudi Arabia] suits us a bit better than in Bahrain. We seemed to be reasonably good in the high-speed corners in Bahrain, so maybe that'll suit us here, but I'm not 100 per cent sure. "So we'll see. I think we're pretty clear on where we need to improve, and it's now just putting the steps in place and putting in the work to make it happen."
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