Oscar Piastri made an appearance at the Melbourne Cricket Ground on Boxing Day, with the Formula 1 driver attending Australia's traditional Boxing Day Test as he enjoyed his downtime over the winter break.
Piastri completed his best season so far after he helped McLaren secure its 2025 constructors' championship, finishing third in the drivers' standings behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and his now-champion team-mate Lando Norris. The Australian proved once again his talent behind the wheel of the papaya-coloured machinery.
Fresh off the long 24-race season, the driver reflected on a challenging year in a conversation with Kayo Sports.
“Obviously it was intense, but I think looking back on it, on the whole, [I'm] incredibly proud of what I was able to do, what we were able to achieve as a team,” Piastri said. “You know, to have a car as dominant as we did...
“Obviously the back-end of the season, a few hurdles and a few obstacles, but when I look back on my season, there's definitely things to work on, things to learn. And a lot of lessons learned there. But overall, just very proud of the work I put in.”
His appearance was met with a warm reception from the MCG crowd as they celebrated their national driver's success this season.
Piastri was asked about the upcoming 2026 season and the huge regulation change about to land on the championship.
"There'll be some subtle differences," he said. "But I think it's still gonna look like an F1 car,” Piastri explained. “But the engines are gonna be very different.
“A lot more electrical power versus the combustion engine. And there's gonna be a lot of things for us as drivers to get used to - a lot of things that we would've never had to have done in a race car before in terms of managing that battery power more.”
He believes these changes will place more responsibility on the driver - something he believes will play to his strengths.
“So there's gonna be a lot of points where you can make a difference as a driver, which I think for the fans should be exciting,” he added. “And with the new rule set, you never quite know who's gonna nail it or who's not. So hopefully we're one of the people that nail it.”
Read and post comments