Oscar Piastri back on track ahead of Canadian GP as F1 trio go karting
Oscar Piastri was behind the wheel with two of his Formula 1 rivals at the weekend, keeping their eyes in for racing.
Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto revealed they all stayed race-sharp by sharing a day karting together in France over the weekend.
While their Formula 1 colleague, Max Verstappen, was at the Nürburgring 24 Hours, three F1 drivers kept themselves attuned by racing around Brignoles.
Oscar Piastri, Alex Albon and Gabriel Bortoleto go karting in France
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The circuit shared a video of the three drivers – Albon replete in his full Williams race suit for good measure – racking up laps together at the French karting track, with Bortoleto having visited the same circuit with Ollie Bearman earlier this year.
Piastri shared photos from their day as he returned to his “natural habitat” at a race track, with Formula 1 coming to the end of a three-week interlude between races, with the Canadian Grand Prix set to take place this weekend.
While the fastest lap was ultimately not shared between the three drivers, the McLaren, Audi and Williams drivers will all head into the weekend having at least turned some laps of late.
This latest extended gap between races comes after an unplanned five-week stoppage in the season following the cancellation of the Bahrain and Saudi Arabian grands prix, with just one round having taken place in the past eight weekends.
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Mercedes team principal and CEO Toto Wolff recently took Kimi Antonelli and George Russell to a WSK karting event to show support, and with all drivers beginning their racing career in karts, he reflected on the importance of that grounding to a driver.
“Kimi and George are karters,” Wolff told PlanetF1.com and others.
“They’ve spent a long time in this environment, and when you hear them talking about racing, it’s always the time they cherish the most as kids in go karts in a highly competitive environment, because the WSK is like the World Cup.
“You know, it’s the highest category of racing through all age groups and, at the same time, it’s a playful way our children learn to race and the environment.”
Additional reporting by Thomas Maher
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