Oscar Piastri has revealed that he’s “very happy” at McLaren, following rumours linking him to Red Bull.
Piastri has so far enjoyed an excellent rookie season, with him having led his first laps in Formula 1 on Saturday during the Belgian Grand Prix sprint race.
The Australian was ultimately beaten in the sprint by Max Verstappen, yet the McLaren driver still secured second.
The actual race itself certainly didn’t go as well for Piastri, as he retired on the opening lap due to damage to his MCL60 caused by colliding with Carlos Sainz.
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It certainly wasn’t an ideal race for Piastri, who admitted that he was flattered by the rumours linking him to Red Bull.
“It’s flattering to have those comments. I’m very happy where I am,” insisted Piastri, as per GPBlog.com.
“It’s always nice to be talked about in those kind of ways. I think my season’s been quite good. On the most part, I think there’s definitely been some mistakes or moments I wish I could have had again.”
“But with hindsight, it’s very easy to say those kind of things. So yeah, I’m happy with where I’m at. Driving-wise, there’s still a lot to improve, a lot to learn.
“I’ve got a very strong teammate to learn from, who’s been a benchmark, it is a big help for me getting back up to speed. So yes, I’m happy where I am.”
Piastri has grown in stature very quickly in F1, with him already putting team-mate Lando Norris under pressure.
His sprint race performance was the best he’s driven so far this season, despite the fact he failed to give Verstappen much of a fight.
He actually admitted that having the Dutchman behind him put his “nerves at ease”, as he knew that the reigning World Champion would be too strong.
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“You’re always focusing on trying to just do the best laps you can,” explained Piastri.
“When you’ve got Max and his car behind you, it does put your nerves at ease, put it that way. I knew it was going to be difficult to hold him behind, of course. I probably wasn’t expecting him to catch me literally at the top of Eau-Rouge off the safety car restart, such is our straight-line speed.”
Piastri added: “I was just focusing on trying to do the best job I could, knowing that it was probably going to be a when Max came past rather than an if. But, yes, I tried my best, and I think second was all we had,” concluded the Aussie.