Australian rookie Oscar Piastri has been called an ‘F1 champion in the making’ by one of the most respected voices in motorsport.
Noted commentator David Croft heaped praise on the prodigiously talented 21-year-old following a dazzling qualifying lap at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix that saw him start eighth on the grid despite his increasingly unreliable and slow McLaren.
Ahead of the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne’s iconic Albert Park track on April 2, Croft said he is delighted with what he sees from the McLaren rookie, who has made a dazzling rise through the driver ranks.
‘He’s the real deal. I like Oscar Piastri. As a human being, I think he’s fantastic, he’s really approachable, very talkative, a very calm guy,” he said. SEN Radio.
‘Over the next few years we will see some good performances from this man. He looks like a champion in the making, to be honest, and he has for some time.
Oscar Piastri was all smiles ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, and one of racing’s most respected voices believes he has all the makings of a future F1 champion.
David Croft (right, pictured with commentators Anthony Davidson and Natalie Pinkham) said the Australian is absolutely the “real deal”.
While he has shown much promise in his first two races to start his F1 career, Piastri has been hampered by the slow and unreliable McLaren.
As Piastri prepares to compete in the city where we were born and raised, many voices in racing are talking about how impressive that rise up the standings has been.
The Melbourne began racing remote controlled cars at a national level before beginning his career in 2011 at Oakleigh Karting Club.
He won the Eurocup, the Formula 3 Championship and the Formula 2 Championship in successive years, and now at just 21 years old he is already in the top 10 of the standings despite driving one of the worst cars on the grid.
Croft said that really underlined how impressive the Australian has already achieved.
“Let’s put this in context, Oscar Piastri was born a month after Fernando Alonso made his F1 debut in the same city,” he laughed.
“As a racing driver, it is absolutely authentic. Like Charles Leclerc and George Russell, he has won the top two power systems in F3 and F2 in back-to-back years.
He has come to a McLaren team at a bad time for McLaren. They are last in the Constructors’ Championship. They haven’t scored any points yet.
“He’s racing at the back of the field at the moment, but when McLaren brings improvements, hopefully that will push him a bit further.
Oscar Piastri has risen through the ranks at blinding speed, winning the 2020 F3 Championship at just 19 years old.
He then progressed to F2 to brilliant effect, winning the drivers’ championship with Prema Racing.
Piastri, pictured in his McLaren MCL60 in Jeddah, had a brilliant qualifying at the Saudi Arabian GP despite car problems.
Croft said thriving in the poor McLaren car at the last GP showed he has what it takes to be one of the best drivers on the grid.
“I think we saw in Jeddah a real fight and a real Piastri spirit,” he said.
‘We saw in qualifying in Jeddah a great lap from him to put him in the top 10 and start eighth on the grid.
“He was unlucky enough to miss some body work early on, but I thought we still got super momentum from him.”
Former world champion Nico Rosberg was another who praised Piastri’s effort in Jeddah, saying that despite the car problems he was impressed with the Australian’s driving.
“I’m very impressed this weekend with Oscar,” he told Sky Sports’ coverage of the race.
“It’s the ultimate challenge for a rookie to come in and take on Lando, especially when the car is so difficult and bad to drive. A really solid weekend.
That solid weekend, according to Croft, will continue to happen more and more as he gains more experience with the pressures of top-level racing.
It will only get better. He has really impressed the McLaren team with the way he has pushed himself, the way he has learned, the way he has adapted to the stresses and stress of being an F1 driver,” he said.
Team principal Andrea Stella backed that premise but said Piastri’s progression was more important than taking a “big step” as many thought he did in Jeddah.
McLaren have been very impressed with Piastri, who is shown laughing with a team member in the garage during the season-opening Bahrain GP.
Piastri’s attention will now turn to his home Melbourne GP at the iconic Albert Park track.
“We have seen very strong progress from Oscar. For me, it’s steady progress session after session,’ he said. quick coffee.
‘If you look back, in FP1 it was a bit more competitive than in Bahrain, then in FP2 closer and in FP3, give or take a game with Lando.
‘He capitalized in qualifying and then he was very strong in the race.
“For me, I see more of this sense of constant progression, which is ultimately the plan that we have with Oscar.”
For his part, Piastri is only focused on the chance to finally compete in a grand prix in the city where he grew up.
“After the first lap it was always going to be difficult, so the last few laps were a bit of entertainment, which is good,” he said after the race in Saudi Arabia.
‘I’m glad we finished the race, first of all, because on lap 1 I didn’t think that was going to happen.
‘(But it was a) shame to have to box so early. It was rough from then on, but I had some fun battles at the end. Let’s go to Melbourne.