Piastri uncovers crucial McLaren trait in rookie year

Oscar Piastri has paid tribute to McLaren's "culture" after animpressive first season in F1. The Australian joined theWoking-based team with a heap of pressure on his shoulders afterthe drawn-out contract saga involving former employers Alpine and,despite initial struggles with an under-performing car, was able todemonstrate the form that took him to three consecutive juniorformulae championships. Piastri's year was punctuated by hisvictory in the Qatar Grand Prix Sprint and, speaking to mediaincluding RacingNews365.com , he explained what had impressed himmost by McLaren in his rookie season. "From the moment I joined theteam, I felt there was firstly a very good culture, the team wasvery welcoming to me," said Piastri. "I think even when times weretough, everyone was still very motivated to try and improve thesituation. "Whether that was people in the race team, people in thedesign office, whoever it may be... it was still optimistic. "Justthe confidence we could turn it around has been nice to see. Thereare always a few question marks, when we first put the upgrades onthe car in Austria and Silverstone, whether it would give us thekind of gains we were hoping for and it did. "Since then, there hasbeen full confidence in the team that we will be able to keepprogressing. "When I first joined the team, I thought we were readyto be competing at the front. We just needed the tools and the carto be able to do it. "It has been impressive everywhere and alsohelping me to develop." 'Just the simple things' Piastri andteammate Lando Norris put together an impressive run of form thathelped launch the team into podium contention for the majority ofthe second half of the season, often emerging as Red Bull's biggestthreat. McLaren has enjoyed harmonious teammate partnerships sinceNorris joined in 2019, with the Briton teaming up with Carlos Sainzand then Daniel Ricciardo. It is this harmony throughout the teamthat Piastri has pinpointed as a crucial factor in its resurgence."Just the simple things like the friendliness of the team," heexplained. "I guess in F1 and motorsport in general, you have thepotential to have a sort of divide on the two sides of the garage."It is definitely not the case here. We all work together as oneteam, trying to help each other... starting from myself and Landotrying to help each other to all the engineers and the mechanicsand stuff like that. "So just the bond and relationship betweeneveryone is really good to see and some of the initiatives we havegot as well, some of the other areas of performance that aren'tnecessarily related to the car, whether that's keeping the peoplein the best shape possible or whatever it may be."