Oscar Piastri has admitted his team are in for a ‘tough weekend’ ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix returning this week.
The McLaren driver has been in great form this season building on his rookie year in 2023.
The Australian currently sits in 6th place in the drivers standings just below his teammate Lando Norris.
The McLaren has built on its extraordinary turnaround in the second half of last season to be the third fastest car on the grid.
However, the nature of the Shanghai circuit – which includes many low speed corners – may not suit the McLaren as other tracks have this season.
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“Let’s say, not as competitive as some of the more recent circuits,” said Piastri.
“So I think it’ll be a tough weekend for us.”
He went on to say that while it may be tricky for the McLaren’s, the sprint provides “opportunities” for the drivers to outshine their cars.
“We can try and capitalise if others get it wrong,” he said.
“But yes, if you could draw a track for the McLaren, it probably wouldn’t look like this.”
Tyre issues expected
There has been a particular focus on tyre performance this weekend with both F1 and Pirelli going into the unknown .
“I think it’s gonna be a graining weekend or maybe one where that goes away as you get towards the the proper stuff after the sprint,” he said.
“We’ve not been here in in these cars or with with 18 inch tyres before so it’s really hard to know.”
Official F1 tyre supplier Pirelli have selected the C2, C3 and C4 compounds, sitting in the middle of their range.
This should help the cars to tackle the 5.451km circuit that comprises a mixture of low-, medium- and high-speed corners.
While rain is not expected to impact the racing, Piastri thinks that the track temperature will be a factor to consider for the teams.
“I’m sure it still will be, even if there is graining,” he said.
“I don’t think we can rule it out, especially if it gets a bit colder.”
‘The sprint makes it the same for everybody’
The last race to take place in Shanghai was in 2019 due to a Covid-enforced break.
It means that several of the newer drivers to the grid have not had as much experience as some of the other tracks on the calendar.
F2 fans have wondered how this will impact race preparation – especially on a sprint weekend.
“It’s just that obviously, people that were here before 2019, Fernando, Lewis, for example. They’ve still got over 10 years of experience of coming to this place.” said Piastri.
“I’m sure that will come in very handy for them.”
Piastril feels the sprint race will help to equalise the race weekend however and provide the newer drivers with much-needed race experience.
He is not alone in feeling inexperienced during his Thursday track walk either.
“I think there’s five or six of us , so, yeah, that will make things a tiny bit easier for me,”
“It still looks like a very difficult track to to get used to as a driver.” he said.
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