McLaren defends F1's live event after criticism: 'It's important to try it'

'Trying new things is important'

"I think trying new things is always important. That's how you make progress and grow the sport by trying something different. It's certainly going to be interesting, and I think hopefully it's a really good show for everybody and something exciting. But I think the biggest thing is trying something different because that's how you move forward," Oscar Piastri stated in an interview with GPblog and others at London's O2 arena on Tuesday. 

In Tuesday's event, all 10 teams revealed their liveries, with all 20 drivers present. Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso commented that the event came at a crucial time for pre-season and was an unneeded distraction for drivers and team members. Max Verstappen also shared a similar perspective to the Spaniard. Both, of course, still attended the event, but Max Verstappen and Red Bull were not interviewed on stage. The Milton Keynes-based team were met with boos by the British crowd. 

"No, I do think it's a good thing," Lando Norris added. "It's a nice way to launch into the season itself rather than have these slower introductions. I mean, it's nice to have these slower introductions and for us to do our launches at MTC and stuff. For us, it's also cool doing it that way. It's just a real milestone of now the season's starting, and we go from there rather than this slower warm-up to the whole season. Like Oscar said, it's nice to try something different. I'm sure once this one has happened, next year they'll make changes and see what they can do better. We've got to start somewhere, but I think it's a good start to the year."

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