By Alan Baldwin
ABU DHABI, Dec 7 (Reuters) – Oscar Piastri looked forward to watching Australia beat England at cricket and enjoying some home summer sun after a Formula One season of highs and lows ended in disappointment on Sunday.
The Australian’s bid to become his country’s first Formula One champion in 45 years fizzled out with third place overall as teammate Lando Norris took the crown in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.
“I’m going back to Australia for a little bit, see my family and friends, give my annual hellos and goodbyes,” he told reporters.
“I’m looking forward to some time away from racing, to be honest.
“It’s been a long, demanding season. As enjoyable as driving the fastest cars in the world is, a break now and again is always a nice thing. So, I’m just looking forward to not thinking about race cars and spending time with people around me.”
Like most of his compatriots, he has been following Australia’s Ashes hammering of England – they lead the series 2-0 – and hoped to catch some of the action at the fourth test in his home town Melbourne after Christmas.
“There’s part of me that kind of wants the series to still be alive by that point, and part of me that really doesn’t,” said Piastri. “So I’ll take whatever we can get. It’s been enjoyable to watch for the last couple of weeks.”
NEW ENGINE ERA IN 2026
Piastri won seven races this season, the same number as Norris and one fewer than Red Bull’s Max Verstappen — whose four-year reign as champion ended.
Next year sees the start of a new engine era and a major change in the rules, which could rearrange the paddock pecking order and has also brought forward pre-season testing and launches to January. The season starts in Australia on March 8.
McLaren will begin as double champions, having clinched a second successive constructors’ title back in October, and Piastri will have his sights on his teammate’s crown.
“Obviously, the new season is not far away so it’s going to be important to enjoy that time off and then come back refreshed with the new challenges for next year,” he said.
“He (Norris) has obviously had a great season this year and is a deserving champion, but he’s still Lando Norris. It’s not like he’s become Superman.
“So, I don’t think things will change with that. I’m expecting full fairness from the team and equality going forward. I don’t have any concerns that that will change at all.”
Piastri said he also felt he had become a better driver thanks to the competition within the team, each driver pushing the other to the limit.
“Sometimes that’s been uncomfortable for everyone, but ultimately, yeah, it’s been a good thing,” he said.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions through the year and I’m sure we’ll have discussions in the off-season about anything we want to do slightly differently for next year.
“But I think at the end of the day, they gave us both as good a chance as the team could have to fairly fight for a world championship, and that’s all you can ask for.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin; Editing by Ken Ferris)
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