Oscar Piastri’s F1 career is five races old but he’s already impressed with some positive performances in the McLaren.
Arriving on the scene with a huge amount of expectation around him, given his meteoric rise through the junior formulae, Piastri is a driver who many think could achieve really big things during his time in F1 providing that he gets the car in which to do exactly that.
The McLaren is not yet where they want it to be but Piastri is keeping Lando Norris honest in the sister car and that is already a promising sign for the Aussie, who has been exposed in his career to working with some of the very best in racing.
During his time at Alpine as a junior driver, he was able to work first-hand with double world champion Fernando Alonso, whilst he has already raced close quarters this year against another champion in Lewis Hamilton, with the two on the same row at the start of the Saudi Arabian GP.
GIVEMESPORT asked him about his experiences so far alongside some of F1’s biggest names:
“With Fernando, I got to work with him reasonably closely last year in my reserve role [at Alpine,] and it was pretty eye opening to see,” says Piastri.
“I watched him from when I was a kid and I guess in some ways underappreciated how good he was before I really got involved in Formula One. To work alongside him like that last year was very eye opening and to be racing against him now is a bit strange, but it’s a really cool opportunity to race against him.
“Guys like Lewis as well – obviously, I grew up watching both of them, so to be on the same grid as them, and in Saudi be on the same row as Lewis, was a pretty cool moment that I’m sure I’ll look back on.”
Piastri was born after Alonso made his F1 debut, which is quite the stat in itself, but perhaps one of the most attention-grabbing facts about the Aussie is that he is one of very few drivers to have won an F3 or equivalent title followed straight away by F2 or equivalent.
Almost invariably, those to have done that have forged big reputations for themselves in F1 with Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and George Russell all doing the same in their junior careers and all becoming grand prix winners – whilst in Hamilton’s case he is a multi-world champion.
A positive omen for Piastri, then, but the Aussie is keeping his feet on the ground as he knows in F1 terms he still has everything in front of him to achieve:
“It’s nice to be in that company. When you get into F1, in some ways those championships are your credentials for F1 and what gives you the opportunity in the first place.
“Once you get into the sport, though, everyone forgets about those pretty quickly and you’ve got to very much make a name for yourself for what you can do in F1.
“I think the saying you’re only as good as your last race is very true. It’s nice to have those championships on the board and they’ll never be taken away, but I think now that I’m in F1, I think the performances and achievements are very much focused on F1.
“I think if I keep doing what I did in the junior categories, I’ll be okay.”
Piastri has done a good job making the step from F3, to F2, to F1, and has adapted quickly – especially with a year away from driving in between the final two steps.
However, he actually credits that break as a moment to give him a chance to prepare for the extra physicality that grand prix racing, and a bumper season of it, requires:
“I think having last year with quite a bit of testing in an F1 car was quite a good experience in terms of how to physically prepare.
“The neck requirements are definitely a massive step up from F2. I think having power steering is actually a bit easier compared to F2, but the fitness needed for being in a race car for an hour and a half or up to two hours takes a mental toll on you definitely.
“The calendar as well, that was kind of one of the big key things I was trying to understand and learn last year in terms of how much of a toll just simply the travel and all of that side of things is going to take.
“I got I guess a bit of a soft entry last year, experiencing kind of the off track things, and so I’ve tried to focus a lot on my neck and my cardio fitness as well, just for the longer races. It’s probably the same effort, I would say, just put into slightly different areas than the junior categories.”
Look out for more of our exclusive chat with Oscar Piastri in the coming days!
