“First test, you could tell he was fast”: The man who brought Oscar Piastri to Europe reveals his first impression on him

Tanish Chachra | 06/01/2023
"First test, you could tell he was fast": The man who brought Oscar Piastri to Europe reveals his first impression on him

Oscar Piastri is probably the biggest rising prospect in F1. The young driver who has won every feeder series in his rookie years is now in F1 and will debut with McLaren.

Only a couple of months ago, two teams— Alpine and McLaren, were vying for his services in the court. So, it reflects how good he must be that two top teams from midfield want him, even though he hasn’t stepped in any race.

The man who has replaced Daniel Ricciardo at McLaren has attracted massive excitement towards him. Moreover, he is getting paired with Lando Norris, making it the youngest pair on the grid for 2023.

Also read: How Ayrton Senna once won a race without front brakes?

Oscar Piastri looked first from the beginning

Having the reputation of making Norris win the European karting championship in 2013 and the world championship in 2014, and soon launching Logan Sargeant after that, Rick Flynn motorsport gained a good reputation for making quality motorsport drivers.

Born in Melbourne, Piastri was thousands of miles away from this academy. But it didn’t stop his father from writing a mail to the place’s owner explaining how the father-son duo were ready to make the treacherous journey.

Agreeing to the request, Flynn initially helped in their accommodation. He also went for a few testing with Piastri on a few tracks across Europe, and soon he decided to have him.

Soon, Piastri immersed himself in European culture and started schooling in England. On the other hand, Flynn claims that the Australian kid was fast and matched every timing set.

“Oscar’s first test, you could tell he was fast. The year after that first test, he turned up to testing. He was just fast. That was all you needed to say. Whatever the time was that weekend, he was matching it or better. His feedback was good. Car control was good. Just a kid you knew was obviously talented,” said Flynn to Planet F1.

Meant for success

Flynn and his colleagues were too impressed with Piastri’s talent. They had their verdict, and everyone unanimously thought that he was destined to go ahead from karting and will have a successful motorsport career.

Though F1 was still a long shot then, it was hard to predict. But it was believed in any motorsport avenue he would reach. He will be successful in it.

Flynn takes pride in having raised the McLaren duo. Having consistently performed for the Papaya team over the last four years, it would be interesting to watch how Norris will be against a rookie, as the Briton never before got the chance to be the elder in his team.

Also read: George Russell wants to end his F1 career at Mercedes

Post Edited By: Tanish Chachra
McLaren Oscar Piastri

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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