By F1 correspondent Michael Butterworth
SHANGHAI, April 25 (Xinhua) -- McLaren Formula 1 driver Oscar Piastri says his team can break the dominance of Red Bull and win Grands Prix as early as 2025.
Since F1's current set of technical regulations came into force in 2022, Red Bull have swept all before them, taking every title on offer and winning 42 of 49 Grands Prix, including all but one in 2023.
With the current regulations set to remain largely static until 2026, many within the F1 paddock have suggested that other teams will not realistically be able to challenge the drinks-backed squad until then.
However, Piastri said he was optimistic of reaching the top step of the podium by next year, adding that the chasing pack were closer to Red Bull this year than they had been in 2023.
"I think wins can be achieved before [2026]," Piastri told Xinhua.
"Even though Red Bull are still a step ahead of everybody, I think we are getting closer.
"If you look at Japan, last year I qualified second, half a second behind [Red Bull's] Max [Verstappen], and this year I was about half a second behind and I was sixth, so I feel like everybody is getting closer.
"We still have a bit of a step to make, but I think everybody is optimistic that we can try and catch them, potentially this year, and really try to mount a challenge next season.
"2026 will be a very big reset for everybody, but there is genuine belief at McLaren that we can win races before those regulations come in."
Piastri was speaking to Xinhua before the Chinese Grand Prix, in which he would finish eighth after struggling with a damaged diffuser, though his teammate Lando Norris scored McLaren's best result of 2024 with a fine drive to second, splitting the dominant Red Bulls.
McLaren had struggled badly in the first half of 2023, with Norris and Piastri combining for only 29 points across the first nine Grands Prix of the year.
However, a raft of mid-season updates transformed the competitiveness of the MCL60, and from round 10 onwards, Norris and Piastri notched 273 points, including nine podium finishes, with Piastri also notably winning the Qatar Sprint event.
McLaren's rapid upturn in form attracted admiring glances from elsewhere in the paddock, with Alpine driver Esteban Ocon telling Xinhua that he had never seen such a mid-season transformation in fortunes.
While McLaren have begun 2024 in better shape than in 2023, Piastri said he was hopeful that the woking squad could once again make a big step forward during the year and leapfrog other teams.
"That's certainly our hope and our ambition," Piastri said.
"The start of the season has been a much better starting point than the start of last year, and I think we're optimistic that we've been able to show the development we showed last year.
"We feel like there's no reason we can't do it again. It's exciting to see what we can do throughout the season.
"Some teams have made a good jump over the winter. I think Ferrari have done a good job of starting this year strong, but hopefully we can try and out-develop them again, and I think we're confident we can do that." ■
