McLaren's Oscar Piastri plays down chances of breakthrough win at Australian GP

[p]After seven race wins last ‌season and a third-placing in the drivers championship, [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/piastri-oscar/MqKAIeUf/"]Piastri[/a] has generated huge buzz in his hometown ‌Melbourne and is expected to draw record crowds for his bid ‌to become the first home winner since the race joined Formula 1 in ‌1985.[/p][p]McLaren qualified both cars at the front of the grid last ‌year and [a href="https://www.flashscore.ca/player/norris-lando/WSVABbVF/"]Lando Norris[/a] won the season-opener on a wet track, but Piastri said he had "no idea" whether he could win this year as the team grapples with F1's biggest ‌technical overhaul in decades.[/p][p][b]"Based off testing, we seem ⁠like we’re in the mix at ‌the front,"[/b] he said.[/p][p][b]"I certainly wouldn't be saying that we're favourite to be winning. ​The picture doesn't look quite as positive for us at the moment as it did 12 months ago.[/b][/p][p][b]"We're in the mix, ​but we need to find a bit more."[/b][/p][embed guid="f92994f3-8809-4938-af21-cb324b98e69b" url="https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/2028908266734952662" social-type="twitter" /][p]Piastri led last year's championship by 34 points before a mid-season slump opened the door for British ⁠teammate Norris to claim his ​maiden title.[/p][p]He said the disappointment of missing out had faded and he had little time to dwell on the past due to the short off-season and the need to get up to speed with the technical changes.[/p][p]He also ‌said he felt no extra burden to perform at his home race, a year after finishing ninth following a skid into grass.[/p][p][b]"Obviously last year's race didn't end how I wanted, but you know, there's no extra pressure to try and make up for that or anything,"[/b] he said.[/p][p][b]"We've got enough challenges to not be worrying about that."[/b][/p][embed guid="a2e86cb0-406c-421d-9953-eff9c5a200bb" url="https://x.com/McLarenF1/status/2028029897424212152" social-type="twitter" /][p]Defending champion Norris may again loom as his toughest adversary, even with pre-season buzz surrounding Mercedes and Ferrari following their positive winter testing.[/p][p][b]McLaren gave equal treatment to Piastri and Norris ‌last year, although there were controversies involving the application of the team's ​so-called 'Papaya Rules'.[/b][/p][p]One involved the Australian letting Norris past after a botched ‌pitstop by the team at Monza.[/p][p]Piastri said any issues from last season had been dealt with internally and the team had moved on.[/p][p][b]"We're not going to be swapping each other around for no reason (when racing)," [/b]he said.[/p][p][b]"Again, if there's any issues or tense moments that ⁠arise, then we'll deal with it ⁠as a team, as we ‌do and try to make some progress."[/b][/p]