Verstappen as an example for Piastri: Only now comes the real test
Column
Oscar Piastri is increasingly starting to emerge as one of the best drivers on the grid. As a rookie, the Australian is making a good impression at McLaren and it is becoming increasingly clear how good he is. The biggest test will come in the coming years.
Why Alpine let Piastri walk
When you see how Piastri is performing now, it is completely unfathomable that Alpine had not made a place for the Australian. Piastri's confidence was already damaged when he was sidelined in 2022. Alpine didn't expect Piastri to break out so quickly. Winning an F3 and F2 title as a rookie doesn't happen to everyone either. But if you have such a talent in-house, why doesn't he get a chance?
Again, Alpine did not want to make room for Piastri for 2023. The Australian only needed to earn his stripes at Williams for one year first. When Fernando Alonso decided to leave Alpine, a spot became available, but it was too late by then. A lack of confidence moved Piastri towards McLaren and, in hindsight, proved them wrong.
Piastri the best F1 rookie in 2023
After a year out of F1, you would expect a young talent to need some adjustment time in the top class of motorsport. Nyck de Vries, Liam Lawson and Logan Sargeant showed that such a transition is not at all easy, as Mick Schumacher also proved earlier. With Piastri, however, mistakes are scarce.
Piastri rarely makes the traditional rookie mistakes. His first crash was only at Zandvoort, after contact on the first lap of the Belgian Grand Prix with Carlos Sainz. Since then, Piastri only had a collision at Monza, but Lewis Hamilton (rightly) took full blame for that incident.
The lack of mistakes could also indicate keeping more margin, but that is not reflected in the duel between them. Lando Norris has been considered a great talent for years. The Brit was equal to the more experienced Carlos Sainz in his first two years in F1 and then beat multiple race winner Daniel Ricciardo two years in a row. However, Piastri is not far behind Norris.
Qualifying duel: 12-5
Qualifying difference: 0.186s
Race duel: 10-5
Points: 136-83
Norris is still clearly the better of Piastri at the moment, but it doesn't make much difference. Piastri has beaten Norris several times this year, especially at critical moments. For instance, Piastri took McLaren's first win this season, not Norris. Something that also happened to Norris alongside Ricciardo.
Piastri should take an example from Verstappen
Piastri still has a lot to learn, as he himself knows. After the Japanese Grand Prix, he stated that he had to learn from races with high tyre wear. Indeed, the Australian's pace was inferior to Norris'. Still, Piastri finished on the podium for the first time. Anyone else would have celebrated. Piastri, on the contrary, remains very calm and names what could be improved.
Only when he finishes ahead of his teammate and wins does a smile appear on Piastri's face. In doing so, he is very reminiscent of Verstappen, who also impressed so much in his first seasons at Red Bull Racing. That ability to settle for nothing less than perfection could take Piastri very far.
Yet for Piastri, the next few years will really be the phase when he has to prove that he belongs to the very top. Verstappen was already known as a great talent from 2015 but only started to become really consistent from the 2018 Canadian GP onwards. That development eventually earned the Dutchman world titles in 2021, 2022 and 2023.
Other talents did not make that step as yet. Charles Leclerc has also been known as a great talent for years but failed when the Ferrari was to his liking in 2022. The Monegasque still makes many mistakes and is no threat to Max. The same can be said for George Russell who has been in the wall more than once this year.
That phase is yet to come for Piastri. By Norris' side, he can do little wrong now. If he finishes behind Norris, then that is normal. If he finishes ahead of the Brit, then that is exceptional. We saw the same with Leclerc alongside Sebastian Vettel. Only when Piastri gets used to the team, and expectations increase will we see whether he can take the next step under that pressure. He will have to slowly but surely start winning the duel with Norris in 2024 and 2025 like Verstappen did against Ricciardo. Then we really are dealing with Verstappen's potential challenger.