Oscar Piastri snares another podium finish as Max Verstappen wins Qatar Grand Prix
Oscar Piastri produced the sort of drive in a frantic Qatar GP that had F1 executives predicting he was a future world champion, to continue his brilliant form.
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The hype is real - Oscar Piastri has all the makings of the next F1 superstar.
The Australian F1 rookie entered 2023 with credentials that had McLaren CEO Zak Brown predicting he would one day become a world champion and now the 22-year-old is showing the type of consistent performances to suggest those comments may be more than just hyperbole.
While Max Verstappen claimed his 14th race victory of the season in Qatar, it was Piastri’s masterful drive from sixth to second that set tongues wagging after he avoided lap one carnage where the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell took each other out.
After his breakthrough sprint victory on Saturday and previous podium result at Japan, Piastri has now managed to secure three podium results in a row as he led home McLaren teammate Lando Norris.
The Aussie star is compiling one of the most impressive rookie F1 seasons in over a decade, his two official race podiums in his first year behind the wheel way ahead of the progress shown by fellow Australians Daniel Ricciardo and Mark Webber when they first joined the elite ranks.
Ricciardo took three seasons to get his first podium result while Webber had to wait until his fourth season of F1 to stand on the podium.
Both went on to become multi F1 race winners, so it’s only a matter of time before Piastri salutes in a main Sunday race.
Piastri now has 83 points for the 2023 season and with five rounds left in the season, if he can carry this hot streak into the triple header starting in Texas on October 20 he could potentially outperform Ricciardo’s best season with McLaren in 2021 when he secured 115 points including a victory in Monza.
But after a torturous Qatar grand prix, with drivers’ battling complete exhaustion in the oppressive heat, Piastri was happy to walk away with the best points haul of his career.
“It was definitely the hardest race I’ve had in my life,” he said.
“It was hot and basically flat-out the entire time. It was 57 qualifying laps, which I definitely feel that I’ve done. A really good race.
“My thanks go to the team for providing Lando and myself with a car that means we can fight at the front more consistently. There were some great strategy calls today, brilliant pit-stops and despite the challenging conditions, we were able to put it all together on the day. A great day.”
The double McLaren podium also showed the papaya team had emerged as the most serious contender to Red Bull over the closing rounds of the year, even if they’re still battling to close the gap to replace Aston Martin in fourth in the constructors’ championship.
McLaren boss Andrea Stella said the team wouldn’t get carried away with their recent hot form.
“A fantastic day for the team as we achieve our 500th podium in Formula 1,” Stella said.
“Both Lando and Oscar drove great races in difficult conditions to finish P2 and P3 to add to the success in the sprint yesterday.
“A double podium rewards the team both trackside and at the factory for their brilliant work and my thanks go to them for their continued commitment and dedication to McLaren.
“We now turn our focus to a busy triple-header and continue to close the gap to our competitors. We must remain with our feet on the ground, however for now, we will celebrate the success of a very strong weekend.”
After another sweltering day, the air temperature was 32 and the track 37 when the race began in sensational fashion as the two Mercedes collided at Turn One in an accident that sent seven-time world champion Hamilton spinning out of the race.
Verstappen had made a perfect start and Hamilton, the only front-runner on soft tyres, attempted to sweep round the outside of Russell, but succeeded only in steering his rear-right tyre into his compatriot’s front wing.
The impact sent both cars spinning. Hamilton flew off, but Russell recovered to continue and make a pit stop as a safety car was deployed.
After four laps, the safety car came in and the race restarted with Verstappen blasting clear of Piastri to open up a lead of 1.2 seconds with Alonso third.
This move followed Saturday’s revision of the marked track limits and kerbs that had damaged the walls of several cars’ tyres on Friday and meant all the teams had to adopt a minimum three-stop strategy.
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Perez, who started from the pit-lane following car changes after his crash in Saturday’s sprint, also sliced through the field to reach third before, on lap 18, after Verstappen pitted, Williams’ Alex Albon took the lead and Perez fell, after a stop, to 16th.
Albon pitted within a lap and Verstappen was back in charge ahead of Piastri and Alonso, all on a three-stop strategy.
In addition to the frantic tactical challenge of the new tyre rules, several drivers were shown a black and white warning flag for exceeding track limits — meaning a repeat transgression would bring a five-second penalty.
For Perez, this duly came as Verstappen’s domination continued. By lap 30, he was 22 seconds clear of Russell as he set a record for laps led in a season with his 740th in command, beating the 2013 record set by four-time champion Sebastian Vettel.
The demanding conditions took their toll on the drivers. Alonso went off at Turn Two and survived a gravel trap before re-joining via an escape road and then Logan Sargeant reported feeling nauseous and vomiting in his helmet.
“I don’t feel well, man,” said Sargeant.
“I need to stop.”
On lap 42, he retired and Perez collected another five-second penalty.
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