When the season kicks off this year, Lewis Hamilton will begin his 12th and final season with Mercedes. Throughout these years, he has won six titles with the team and has also helped the team win 8 consecutive constructors titles. Unfortunately, in the last two years, he hasn’t won even a single Grand Prix. Hence, the Silver Arrows will want to earn a championship for their beloved driver for one last time. While many of the F1 experts and fans believe that it’ll be an ‘incredible event’ if Hamilton wins the championship. Though, McLaren’s Oscar Piastri seems to have a different opinion.
During an interview with the Fast and Curious podcast, Piastri was asked his opinion on Lewis Hamilton winning the championship at Mercedes. Piastri said, “No it would not be incredible. Oscar Piastri winning the first world championship is a much better story.”
As soon as the Australian driver made his statement, everyone present out there started laughing. However, once things settled down, the host said that even though Piastri would win the title, he would have to wait a little longer.
The reason for this is Piastri is only half the age of Hamilton, who is already in his 40s and has a championship-winning experience. Thus, the host’s primary argument was that the #81 driver would only be vying for the title after gaining experience through a few more years of F1 racing.
Piastri has already proved in his rookie season how good he was. Many experts and pundits have even drawn comparisons between his debut season and Lewis Hamilton’s. Following Sergio Perez and Carlos Sainz, Piastri was the only driver to defeat Max Verstappen in 2023.
Even though Piastri has only won a sprint race so far, he has all the makings of a championship contender. Nevertheless, for this to occur, McLaren must provide him with a capable car that will give him an advantage over Max Verstappen.
How impressive was Oscar Piastri’s rookie season?
Oscar Piastri didn’t start his rookie season as he might’ve expected. However, after a few poor races, the youngster showed his true ability when McLaren upgraded their MCL60 at the Austrian GP. After displaying consistency in multiple races, Piastri secured the pole position in the sprint shootout of the Qatar Grand Prix. The Australian then exhibited excellent tire management during the race and ultimately finished 1.87 seconds ahead of Max Verstappen.
Because of his consistent performance on the racetracks, Piastri has also received a lot of acclaim from F1 experts. McLaren Zak Brown was also on this list and has openly declared Piastri to be a ‘future world champion.’
Brown also adds that Piastri is very calm and thoughtful, which is largely due to his approach to a race weekend. As quoted by autohebdof1.com, Brown said, “Most impressive? His maturity and the way he approaches a race weekend. He doesn’t worry about the Friday times, So I think what impressed us the most was his maturity.”
With the 2024 season rapidly approaching, it remains to be seen if McLaren will provide its drivers with a car capable of competing and defeating Red Bull.
