Oscar Piastri is a future world champion and any follower of lower formula will tell you that.
The McLaren rookie is not getting enough credit this season. As the season has progressed the Australian has started to impress, notably at the last round at Silverstone where he was able to challenge drivers champion-elect Max Verstappen at the start, and where he was unlucky not to take a podium due a poorly timed safety car.
📸 Piastri had his best qualifying so far with P3 at Silverstone.
But Piastri is more than just a McLaren rookie who turned down Alpine.
📸 Piastri in James Hunt's classic McLaren at Goodwood.
Before his reserve role with Alpine in 2022, he was dominant in the series' he took part in. In 2019 he won Formula Renault Eurocup, before following that up with an FIA Formula 3 title in 2020 where he narrowly saw off competition from names like Logan Sargeant, Theo Pourchaire and Liam Lawson before completing a treble in FIA Formula 2 in 2021, again seeing off top names like Ferrari reserve Robert Shwartzman and Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu among others.
📸 Leading the F3 field in 2020.
To those of us who have been following the 22 year old's progress his 'coming of age' performances in recent weeks come as no surprise. This is a driver who could go in to accomplish so much in this sport.
📸 With teammate Lando Norris.
Only George Russell and Charles Leclerc have anything close to a similar racing CV as Piastri, so he's in good company to start with.
📸 In elite company.
If McLaren can continue to supply him a strong car, it's possible Piastri could be the first rookie to take a podium in F1 since Lance Stroll's Baku heroics in 2017 for Williams or even possibly, the first rookie winner in F1 since one Lewis Hamilton all those years ago in Canada 2007 which would be truly remarkable.
📸 How far can Piastri go?
The sky is the limit for Oscar Piastri.
📸 Image credits: McLaren Racing, Oscar Piastri, Formula Motorsport Limited.
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