F2 champion 2021 Oscar Piastri will make his F1 debut from the 2023 season onwards. The Australian driver has replaced Daniel Ricciardo for the upcoming season and will be up against Lando Norris, heading into his fifth career in the sport.
McLaren is banking on this youth combination of two drivers. They are the youngest driver pairing on the grid, with an aggregate age of 44. Fernando Alonso alone is 41 years old.
Oscar Piastri wasn’t even born when Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut 🤯 pic.twitter.com/pRtthJ2ZOu
— FORMULA ADDICT (@Formuladdict) January 2, 2023
But the age doesn’t take away the fact that Piastris is among the hottest new-age prospect in F1. The fans are keen to see how he’ll perform in the following season.
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Oscar Piastri will take time
However, former F1 driver and Piastri’s agent Mark Webber wants to slow down the hype. He claims Piastri will take time in F1, while talks of him going against Norris are going big.
“With Oscar, he’s new to the sport. He’s going to have his first season next year. “It doesn’t matter what driver you are. Obviously, it takes time for you to get used to the sport, the juggernaut, the travel, the media,” said Webber to Motorsportweek.
Webber also cited examples of Piastri’s predecessor Daniel Ricciardo, who took his time in HRT and Toro Rosso before going full beast at Red Bull. He also spoke about Norris, who admits to being nervous in 2019 and came to his best in 2020.
Similarly, he feels Piastri will take the same route in his rookie year. So, initially, incredible things shouldn’t be expected from the 21-year-old race driver.
When two teams are battling; one generates expectations
So, Piastri’s appointment was everything but normal. Alpine and McLaren were almost on the verge of going to court to secure his services. Though, FIA’s intervention prevented that as the governing body recommended it be resolved in the realms of motorsport.
Thus, the dispute between the two teams was heard at the Contract Regulation Body (CRB). Ultimately, CRB sided with McLaren and even ordered Alpine to pay half a million to McLaren and Piastri.
Alpine seems to have moved on from the loss and didn’t decide to go out in court. Meanwhile, they appointed Pierre Gasly to race for them. Giving them a satisfactory end to their end of the drama.
But two teams going aggressively at each other only reveals that Piastri is already deemed a lucrative asset by the teams. And such off-track battles only validate that and bring fans’ limelight on the driver.
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