Piastri confident going into the season: 'Yes, I think I can beat him'

Alpine and McLaren were even in court to secure Oscar Piastri's services. The latter team won the battle for the Australian, who makes his debut in Formula 1 this season. After successive championship titles in Formula 3 and Formula 2, expectations are very high.

Former F1 driver David Brabham - son of the legendary Jack - indicated in an exclusive interview with GPblog last week that Piastri could well become the F1 world champion. To become the world's best, the Melbourne talent would first have to deal with his teammate Lando Norris. A few days before his first season starts with the annual winter tests, Piastri spoke to Australian broadcaster ABC about the internal rivalry at McLaren.

"Yeah, I think so [I can beat him]. I think everyone has to have that self-belief that they can win, or if they're not in a position to win to do the best that they can with what they have", Piastri said. "There's definitely a steep learning curve ahead of me, into my first year, and obviously Lando's into his fifth year now, but first and foremost for me it's going to be getting back up to speed with no racing for over a year now and we'll see what that holds."

Piastri will have to deal with a McLaren car, of which team management has already indicated they are not yet fully satisfied with the design. Consequently, adjustments to the design of the MCL60 will already follow in the coming weeks. In any case, the English team's goal is going to be to finish at least fourth in the constructors' championship.