Oscar Piastri was relieved to finally score his first Formula 1 points after finishing eighth in the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
Piastri, whose homecoming weekend hadn’t been plain sailing after qualifying 16th, had been running a steady 11th before profiting from a pile-up at the second restart to finish eighth.
“Happy to be in the points [and] what better place to do it than at home,” said Piastri to the media. “We were there when it mattered.
“We avoided all the carnage there at the end when we needed to be. In clear air, the pace was pretty solid for me, and Lando just got stuck behind Yuki for too long.
“So, a few things to improve from my side, but for now, just happy to be in the points here at home.”
Season starts now
With points finally secured after a sluggish start to his rookie season, Piastri hopes to kick on from Melbourne and start challenging for points regularly.
McLaren have previously admitted they aren’t happy with the MCL60 and will likely bring upgrades for the first European race of the season, the Azerbaijan GP held in Baku.
“To have both cars in the points, I think at the moment where we are, we need to capitalise on moments like this,” said Piastri.
“The car at the moment [is] not where we want it to be, and we’ve got some upgrades in Baku which will hopefully improve our performance.
“So yeah, to get these points at this stage of the season is a really good result for myself and the team, and to get my first points on the board is a nice feeling.”
