Australia’s Oscar Piastri has hailed significant improvements in a crucial area of his race-craft that proved his biggest issue for large parts of last season.
Speaking ahead of the season’s first race in Bahrain last weekend, Piastri said: “I think there were some races last year that were strong, but I think there was definitely somewhere I struggled more, and a lot of those soft of had similar characteristics.
“There’s certainly some tyre management that I want to focus on.”
He added: “I’m certainly trying to fast-track that as much as I can.”
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Tyre management and race pace often prove difficult for rookies, considering the level of tyre degradation in F1 is significantly higher than lower categories.
Making it more difficult, the skill can only effectively be learned by racing – and not on the simulator or in testing, unlike single-lap pace or other driving skills.
McLaren’s MC60 last season also particularly struggled on high-abrasion circuits.
“The only time you can really learn it is during the race, so it’s a very difficult thing to learn,” Piastri added.
“I feel like throughout the season, you get a lot of opportunities in free practices to sort of focus on performance running and qualifying style preparation, just because of the time that’s available.”
But after finishing P8 in Bahrain – the same position he started – Piastri was optimistic he had taken a key step forward.
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Speaking ahead of the season’s second race in Saudi Arabia, Piastri said: “I thought it was a strong race for myself.
“I think those kinds of circuits last year, where tyres degrade a lot, and there’s not much grip, you really challenge the rear tyres, was generally where I struggled a bit more.”
“I think to come away from Bahrain very even on pace to Lando was … Honestly happy with that.
“So, for me, it was a good step forward. Of course, I need to keep doing that.
“There’s going to be different limitations at every circuit we go to, but I thought it was a positive start on something that I’ve wanted to address from last year.”