Oscar Piastri says he’s under more pressure from his glittering junior career than his messy 2022 split with Alpine as he prepares to make his long-awaited Formula 1 debut next month.

Piastri’s crumbling relationship with Alpine was one of last year’s major storylines despite the Aussie rising star spending the season on the sidelines as a reserve driver.

The Melburnian and his manager, nine-time grand prix winner Mark Webber, had grown frustrated with the French team’s lack of urgency in drawing up a new contract to secure him a place on the 2023 grid.

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The Piastri camp reacted by striking a deal to move to McLaren, which led to a spectacular meltdown in relations with Alpine when the team attempted to announce him as Fernando Alonso’s 2023 replacement.

Alpine management tried to paint Piastri’s actions as disloyal and in bad faith, but the FIA’s Contract Recognition Board found that the team had badly mismanaged the situation and had no legitimate hold on its former junior driver.

The CRB exonerated Piastri and McLaren of any underhandedness in the deal, and a settlement with Alpine got Oscar into orange overalls late last year.

It was one of the highest profile contractual disputes in years, made only more remarkable for the fact that Piastri is yet to make his debut in the sport.

It put the 21-year-old fully under the harsh spotlight of the F1 media for months and burnt his reputation in some quarters of the public, particularly for him usurping compatriot Daniel Ricciardo in the team.

But speaking at the launch of what will be his first F1 car, the McLaren MCL60, Piastri said the events of last year were no longer weighing on him as he prepared for his intensely anticipated debut.

“I’m very, very happy with where I am at McLaren, and I think last year was obviously quite a difficult situation,” he said.

“Once all the facts came out and the full story came out I think it became much more clear to most people, so that’s not weighing on my mind.

“I don’t think it adds any pressure from that aspect … I think while the drama created a lot of attention, it has nothing to do with my driving.

“I think I’m going into the season pretty comfortable.

“The team has been incredibly welcoming to me, and ultimately they were very passionate to have me here in the first place.

“I think time is a good healer for most things. I’m focused with where I am now. I’ve got a lot on my plate trying to prepare with McLaren, and that preparation has been going really well.”

But while Piastri’s high-profile move to McLaren heightened expectations for his debut, the kernel of the hype around the young Aussie remains his superlative junior career.

His three junior titles in succession — Formula Renault Eurocup, Formula 3 and Formula 2, the last two won as a category rookie — form a record unmatched by even the likes of George Russell and Charles Leclerc, marking him out as one of the most promising young prospects of his generation.

But his year out of the cockpit in 2022 halted that momentum, and Piastri admitted that the weight of expectation to resume his impressive form is still heavy on his shoulders in a way his difficult arrival in the sport is not.

“I think coming into F1 with the previous results I’ve had in junior categories, I think there’s always going to be an element of expectation from that,” he said.

“I’m just trying to get back up to speed, and obviously there’ll be a bit of rust, having not raced for a year.

“There are some things without racing that you just can’t keep training, so there’ll be that there. That’s why I’m looking forward to getting back out on track.”

Piastri was unwilling to put a time frame on his return to top form but said that he expected a steep learning curve.

“I think putting a number on how many races it will take is a hard task. In Bahrain I’ll have a good idea of where I’m at.

“I think coming into Formula 1 from any racing, there was always going to be a period of adaptation. The cars are much faster, the people I’m racing against are the best drivers in the world, so regardless of whether I had a year off, that was always going to be a challenge that remained.

“I’ve got a lot to focus on myself, obviously, coming into the sport. In my rookie year there’ll be a lot to learn.

“But I think for me just building the foundations for my career [and] getting back up to speed after not racing for so long are both of the first ports of call to address, and then ultimately trying to push the team forward alongside Lando to be in a position where in the future we could be fighting for podiums and race wins.

“I think what looks good for me is if I can learn as much as I can quickly and just get these processes correct from the beginning and then start good habits.”