Piastri's self-praise after rookie F1 season: 'I had to deliver'

Oscar Piastri has stated he can “pat myself on the back” followinghis rookie Formula 1 campaign. The Australian joined McLaren forthe season after the Woking-based squad entered tug-of-war withAlpine over his services for the year. Although he was outpaced bymore experienced team-mate Lando Norris throughout the year,Piastri was hailed for his efforts and signed an extension withMcLaren until the end of 2026. The 22-year-old scored two podiumsduring the campaign in Japan and Qatar and ended the Drivers'Championship in eighth place. He also prevailed in the Qatar sprintrace after securing pole position for the shorter Saturday outing.While Piastri has praised McLaren for improving the car followingits slow start to the campaign, he stated that it was down to himto deliver in high-pressure moments. “It’s definitely been a greatseason, a lot of highlights that I wouldn't have been able to dowithout the team improving the car the way we did,” Piastri toldmedia including RacingNews365.com . “So I have to give a lot ofcredit to them. But also, I guess to pat myself on the back, I hadto deliver in those moments too. “And I think to me, that'sprobably the proudest moment. Silverstone where we rocked up with acar that was competitive, I was able to get the most out of it.“Japan, not my finest race, but did enough to score my firstpodium. And Qatar, we had one opportunity really in the whole yearto actually win something and we managed to take it. “For me, I canbe very proud of that. [There were] definitely some trickierweekends and things still to work on. “There’s a whole season, youdon't win championships by one or two good weekends. I know thatfrom my junior career, so just need to make that happen moreoften.”