Oscar Piastri has emerged as the rookie of the season, given his increasingly impressive performances in 2023. The Aussie driver created shockwaves by finishing on the podium in Japan, an incredible feat for a rookie. As such, the majority of the F1 community has become a Piastri fan, but none more than his current manager and former Red Bull driver, Mark Webber. Formula Passion reports that according to the retired driver, Piastri is reminiscent of Michael Schumacher in one important aspect.
Despite 2023 being his rookie year, Piastri has been mighty, competing at the front close to his seasoned teammate Lando Norris. As such, experts believe that the Melbourne-born driver has the potential to become a huge star in the future, should he not lose focus. Having dealt with pressure easily so far, the expectations of him becoming a major name in the sport in the future might not be too daunting for the driver, who doesn’t even have 20 races under his belt yet.
Oscar Piastri shares an important similarly with Michael Schumacher
Entering F1 on the back of consecutive title wins in F3 and F2, Piastri is showing no signs of stopping. Having achieved a P2 finish in the Sprint at Spa and then a podium finish in the Grand Prix race in Suzuka, the 22-year-old showed his talents on two of the most technically demanding tracks on the F1 calendar. Given the same, Webber can’t help but heap praises on the driver. Amongst the best of compliments, was one where the former Red Bull driver compared Piastri to the legendary Michael Schumacher, as reported by Formula Passion.
“Despite the talent he has, when I see his way of always wanting to improve and never resting on his laurels he reminds me a lot of Michael Schumacher.”
Not only have the impressive performances been a boon for the Australian, but they also seem to have become a curse for his teammate, Lando Norris, who is serving his first year as the ‘senior driver’ in a team despite only being 23.
Norris unhappy with Piastri’s rise?
Given Piastri’s remarkable rise through the ranks, the focus has often been on how Norris is handling the increasing challenge from his teammate. In the early days of the rise, rumors started floating that all was not well within the McLaren camp and that Piastri’s results became annoying for Norris. However, there was no credibility to such claims. Despite Norris admitting to not liking the pressure being put on him by Piastri, he claims to take it in good spirits as it gives him more of a challenge.
Norris believes his partnership with Piastri will soon become a force to be reckoned with as McLaren continues to improve their car and take the challenge to Red Bull. With Norris signed till 2025, McLaren signed a contract extension with Piastri till the 2026 season. As such, the two will pair up for at least two more seasons as they try to take McLaren to the summit of F1.
