Oscar Piastri has admitted that his unique method of preparing for the scorching heat of the Austrian Grand Prix is definitely “not for pleasure,” but the McLaren driver swears by his ‘bathroom sauna’ technique. F1 officials have declared Sunday’s race at Spielberg, which is taking place during a European heatwave, as meeting their ‘health hazard’ criteria. Forecasts predict temperatures exceeding 31C, and teams are required to fit driver cooling systems, such as liquid-cooled vests.
Driver cooling systems and personal preference
Although drivers can opt for a ballast penalty instead of using the cooling system, Piastri shrugged off the decision on Thursday, saying: “I think probably, yes, I will wear it. I used it a couple of times last year. There’s obviously the risk if it goes wrong and if it fails, then it’s worse than not wearing it.” He added, “But if you get the system working well, then it can help a bit. It’s not a complete game-changer but when I used it last year, it was OK. There are definitely some things not perfect with it, but it’s personal preference.”
Piastri’s unconventional heat preparation
The 25-year-old Melburnian revealed his own method of preparing for a torrid race when asked if he had been using a sauna. “When you’ve got no air coming in, that’s when it’s the worst. I haven’t spent any time in a sauna, but I’ve got a few portable heaters and a small bathroom and an exercise bike,” Piastri explained. “You can cause yourself a lot of discomfort, a lot of pain by doing that. So I do that for the benefit of my performance -- not for pleasure, that’s for sure.”
McLaren’s struggles on track
World champions McLaren have not been performing at their best this season. “It has been a good track for us in the past, but there’s no illusion for us that we’re suddenly going to be amazing here and the team to beat,” said Piastri. “We’re definitely not going to be. Everybody’s coming with upgrades quickly. Ferrari took a good step forward in Barcelona, Mercedes is still the benchmark, and I’m hearing along the grapevine that Red Bull have got some big things as well. So, it’s not going to be easy for us.”
Championship standings and outlook
Piastri, who is still playing catch-up after being unable to start the first two races, currently sits sixth in the championship standings, a position he led at the same time last year. His teammate, world champion Lando Norris, is five points ahead in fifth place. “We have a bit of a deficit everywhere. We don’t really have any clear strengths where we’re really strong, but we’re not terribly bad anywhere either. So in some ways that’s good, in some ways that’s bad,” mused Piastri. “The odds are definitely stacked against us, but last year was a pretty good showcase of how quickly things can change. We’ve still got a long way to go in the season. I don’t think we should count ourselves out. Yes, we’ve got to do a lot of hard work, yes, we’ll need a few things to go our way. But we’ve seen reliability issues for everybody across the board and things can change very quickly. If we can improve things dramatically like we have done in the last few seasons, then I think anything is still possible.”
