Oscar Piastri refuses to cower under McLaren’s lofty expectations
Zak Brown commented that Oscar Piastri is a future World Champion in the making, and the young Australian has claimed he feels no pressure for that.
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Oscar Piastri [via Fox Sports]
When Oscar Piastri was taken up by Alpine as a reserve driver, they had the motive to eventually hire him for a full-time role in the future. And the right opportunity came up when Fernando Alonso left the Enstone-based outfit for Aston Martin Racing in the wake of Sebastian Vettel’s retirement. As soon as Alpine announced Piastri as the replacement for the two-time World Champion, the Australian refuted the claim, saying that he has not signed any such contract yet. And in the end, he went to McLaren who dropped Daniel Ricciardo to hire him.
With a Championship win in Formula 3 and a title in F2, Oscar Piastri is slated to the next big thing in the king class of motorsports, according to many pundits. He is managed by the fabled Aussie racer Mark Webber who has sung praises of Oscar’s talents many a times. When the youngster made it into McLaren, he was already about to live up to some huge expectations as he had caused such a splash in the drivers’ market with his Alpine controversy. Such was the demand for Oscar Piastri that Alpine and McLaren went to court for him–and the Melbourne native did exceed those expectations.
Within his first few stints for the papaya squad, Oscar Piastri got his first fastest lap record. He has amassed 36 points till now, with a fourth-place finish at the British Grand Prix where his teammate Lando Norris clinched a podium win. With the brilliant performances from Piastri, McLaren’s expectations from him have only been rising–but the 22-year-old feels no harm in that. He said to Speedcafe, “I’ve always tried to set higher standards for myself than anyone else.”
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Oscar Piastri comments on Zak Brown’s remark that he is a future World Champion in the making
McLaren CEO Zak Brown has his business spread in all parts of motorsports including Formula One and IndyCar. Thus, he has seen plenty of talent on the racetracks but he has claimed that he thinks Oscar Piastri will be a World Champion down the line. This comment has taken the F1 community by surprise as it is a big demand to make of a youngster who is in his first year in Formula 1. But Piastri feels no pressure as he said, “It’s nice to have those comments and the belief from Zak and the whole team, that they’ve got belief in me.“
On the other hand, McLaren pro Lando Norris, who has stayed loyal to the team since his entry into F1 in 2019, is currently facing some issues. Their Team Principal Andrea Stella remarked that the papaya squad is helping Norris manage his back pain issues in every way possible since the Briton has gotten his back injured from the stiff car seat. Despite his problems, Lando has managed to win podiums on two occasions for his team at Silverstone and in Hungary. And it remains to be seen if Lando Norris gets his first F1 victory this year too.
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Riddhi Mondal
(1821 Articles Published)