Oscar Piastri is set for a double dose of unfamiliar F1 territory as the sport moves on to Mexico City this weekend and then to Sao Paulo in Brazil.
Piastri will be an absolute beginner at both venues although he has done his best to prepare for the sport’s second and third installments of a grueling triple header that started last week in Austin.
However, at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, the McLaren charger will at least be spared the challenges and frantic pace of F1’s sprint weekends, although the compressed format will return in Brazil for the final time of the season.
“It’ll be a brand-new track, so that’ll be an experience, and back to a normal weekend, a lot more time to practice things and get some consecutive laps in hopefully,” said Piastri , quoted by Speedcafe.
“Hopefully, it’s just a bit more structured for myself and I can go into qualifying and the race a bit more up to speed.”
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Asked about what he knew about the two upcoming venues, Piastri said: “Nothing really.
“I’ve driven around the simulator, but they’ll be completely new, and Brazil’s obviously going to be a sprint as well so it’s going to be a challenge.
“I don’t know what our car performance will be like as well.”
©McLaren
Ahead of last weekend’s US Grand Prix, McLaren was cautious about its prospects only for the team to perform well at The Circuit of the Americas, with Lando Norris claiming his sixth podium of 2023 in Austin.
Unfortunately, damage incurred during an opening lap clash with Alpine’s Esteban Ocon led to an early DNF for Piastri in Texas.
“I think it’s been in some ways a pleasant surprise how good we’ve been [in Austin],” he said.
“I would say I didn’t extract the most out of it myself, but the pace in the car was clearly pretty good, so hopefully we can continue that into the next two.”
Mexico’s altitude and rarefied environment is a factor that all teams must compose with, whether its dealing with engine settings or maximum load aero.
“In Mexico, because of the altitude and stuff like that, it throws in another challenge,” Piastri added.
“Obviously, there’s a lot less downforce there, so I don’t know if that will help us that much, and I don’t really know if the track is bumpy or smooth.
“But as I said, it [the car in Austin] was a pleasant surprise, on quite a bumpy track and with a decent amount of low-speed corners, that we were still competitive. Hopefully, we can have some good results.”
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