Formula One: Oscar Piastri is an F1 star in waiting but don’t call him the next Daniel Ricciardo
Oscar Piastri is Australia’s next F1 star and has been tipped “a future world champion”. But he doesn’t want to be known as the next Daniel Ricciardo. His reasons might surprise you.
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He is the emerging Formula One talent who has been dubbed Australia’s next Daniel Ricciardo since he arrived on the international scene.
But young gun Oscar Piastri has declared he doesn’t want to be the next Ricciardo.
He wants to be the first Oscar Piastri.
As the Alpine reserve driver edges closer to joining eight-time Grand Prix winner Ricciardo as Australia’s second driver on the Formula One grid, Piastri said he was determined to carve a path in the biggest motorsport show on earth in his own way.
Describing Ricciardo as a “major personality” on the F1 grid, Piastri said his approach to racing would be different.
“I enjoy watching him, of course, and as a fellow Aussie I supported him,” Piastri said.
“When he was at Renault (now Alpine) it made life very easy because we were all supportive of the same people and team.
“He is a major personality on the grid and adds a lot of life to F1. So he is definitely a good role model, but I certainly didn’t spend my teenage years trying to be Daniel Ricciardo.
“Of course, I looked up to him and was proud of what he could do on the track and admired what he was able to do on the track. But his approach to going racing is quite – I don’t want to say light-hearted because that is a bit unfair – but he certainly makes sure he is enjoying his racing which I think a lot of people can look up to.
“I have got to go about it in my own way and still be me, but of course I’ve supported Daniel for quite a few years looking on from the sidelines and hopefully in the not too distant future I will be joining him as a fellow Aussie.”
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That opportunity is within arms reach now for Piastri, who Alpine’s chief executive Laurent Rossi has already labelled as “future world champion potential”.
Considered the best young talent without a full-time seat in F1, Piastri was signed up as a test and reserve driver for Alpine for 2022 after he dominated on the step ladder to F1.
There is little more the 20-year-old Melbourne-born racer could have done to land a seat this year after claiming three consecutive drivers’ championships in Formula 2 last year, Formula 3 (2020) and the Formula Renault Eurocup (2019).
After winning the Formula 2 crown, Piastri joined an elite club of drivers including Ferrari star Charles Leclerc and Mercedes’ George Russell to have claimed back-to-back F3 and F2 titles.
Piastri’s potential was identified early. He was signed as a member of the Alpine Academy (formerly Renault Sport Academy) as an 18-year-old and has Australia’s nine-time Grand Prix winner Mark Webber guiding his career after he joined Webber’s management group two years ago.
Piastri is determined to land a full-time seat in F1 in 2023 but is waiting in the wings as a back-up for Alpine drivers Fernando Alonso and Esteban Ocon this year if, for any reason, they are not able to drive.
He is also a reserve driver option for McLaren this season after Alpine struck a deal to allow him to be used if Ricciardo or teammate Lando Norris could not drive due to illness or injury.
GRID GAIN
PIASTRI is confident he will be on the Formula One starting grid in 2023.
Described as the “future of our team” by Rossi, the Alpine boss has outlined the team’s plans to have Piastri eventually replace two-time world champion Alonso when he “steps down” from F1.
Should 40-year-old Alonso, who is out of contract at the end of this year, continue beyond this season, Rossi has said he was prepared to let Piastri drive for another team so he could get a full-time seat next year on the condition he returned to “win titles” with Alpine.
Piastri said it was too early to predict where he would end up next year, but said his loyalties were with Alpine.
“I am confident I can get somewhere on the grid (in 2023),” said Piastri, who will turn 21 this week ahead of the Australian Grand Prix.
“I have got the results on the board now and I think there is nothing more that I can really add to those race results …. that part is done and on the board.
“I am trying to focus on treating this year as a preparation year for next year because I feel like I deserve a chance on the grid and I hope when that chance comes I want to be fully prepared and as ready as I can be.
“I am trying to bank as much knowledge as I can and I guess next year I will hopefully add some driving to the list of learnings.
“Obviously Alpine has been fantastic for my career in the last two years – and into our third year together now – and I want to remain loyal to them. We will just have to see what happens.”
In addition to his support role at race weekends, Piastri will also undergo an “extensive testing program” in the 2021 car for Alpine this year as well as frequent simulator work.
Piastri admitted it had been “frustrating” not being able to secure a seat after winning the F2 championship last year with limited opportunities on the grid this year.
“It is frustrating because as a racing driver I want to be racing but that’s just the cards I have been dealt with this year unfortunately and I am trying to focus on the positives of the situation,” Piastri said.
“But I have got those results on the board that nobody can take away anymore and I have won everything I can. So I am trying to focus on just learning what I can about F1 this year and all the different aspects.
“But it is a bit frustrating to not be racing, especially now that we are back (racing) ... it’s a bit of a reminder of what I am missing out on.”
HOW IT BEGAN
PIASTRI’S motorsport journey began when he started racing remote control cars at the age of six before taking up karting three years later.
James Sera coached Piastri after he joined the Oakleigh Go Kart Racing Club as a nine-year-old and said there was something “special” about Piastri’s driving ability from a young age.
“He was definitely different to the other kids,” said Sera, who travelled around Australia with Piastri and his dad to go-kart races.
“Because I’m in the go-kart business, I see kids every single day of the week, but the first day I saw Oscar drive, there was definitely something different and special about him, 100 per cent.
“He could just drive the kart like he had driven it for 10 years and he had been driving it for one week. He knew the lines, he could brake the kart well straight away, he could just do everything that takes kids years to learn within the first week.
“He was very focused and very quiet. He is not so quiet these days, but he was very quiet then.”
By the age of 14, Piastri left his home in Melbourne to move overseas to Europe to further his racing career, attending a boarding school in London to complete his studies.
But now, with a Formula One debut within his reach, Piastri said all the sacrifices he made during his teenage years had been worth it.
“It’s definitely made it worthwhile at the moment, so I’m glad that it’s paid off,” Piastri said.
“It was certainly a big sacrifice and a massive challenge to leave home at 14 and then I still went to school and had a reasonably normal life apart from the fact I was on the other side of the world without my parents and my family.
“I was still going to school and still making friends at school. At boarding school it was quite good to be with a bunch of friends that were very much in a similar situation.
“It has been a meteoric journey I would say and I think now I am kind of at the age where I would probably be thinking about moving out of home if I hadn’t already.
“Admittedly, I probably wouldn’t have gone to the other side of the world, but to chase my dream that was a sacrifice I was definitely willing to take.”
READY MADE
FORMULA One expert Martin Brundle has described Piastri as a ready-made Formula One driver and would be surprised if he didn’t make a “cameo” appearance this year.
“There is no doubt when we have seen these young drivers win F3, win F2 they are Formula One material,” Brundle said.
“I think he is the real deal and I know he is doing plenty of testing in last year’s car so I think he will be Formula One ready when it matters.
“And I would be surprised if Mark and Ann (Webber) and the gang around him haven’t got him on the grid for 2023 and if he doesn’t end up with a bit of a cameo role this year somewhere in a race.
“He seems a very grounded, intelligent lad with the results in the trophy cabinet to back it up and a lot of good people around him.
“He looks like a nailed on F1 driver to me so let’s see how that plays out.”
Rossi hailed Piastri’s maturity and his desire to learn – in and out of the car.
“Let me get this straight, Oscar, for me, is future world champion potential,” Rossi said.
“He stands out in the middle of all the other drivers first and foremost because he is extremely fast.
“What I like about him though, beyond the fact that he is an extremely fast driver, he is a very smart guy in so many ways beyond the driving.
“You can see that his intellectual curiosity is extremely important because this is a guy that wants to understand how the entire system works to extract as much as he can out of it and lift the performance up.
“He reminds me a lot of Fernando and Esteban, who I value for the same reasons, they just go way beyond driving.
“He had a maturity that for me was the sealing point. To be so mature, so intellectually curious at this age, it bodes well for his future to be honest.”
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THE FUTURE
HE still has to jump the final hurdle to make it to the grid full-time, but Piastri is not shy about his ultimate F1 ambitions.
“The dream is to become world champion,” Piastri said.
“There are obviously a lot of other factors that go into that and being in the right team in the right car plays a major factor in that in F1.
“I am realistic that not many people get the chance to fight for world championships so it’s definitely still a dream of mine but I want to try to perform the best that I can in the circumstances I have.
“But firstly I want to get into F1 full-time. That’s the first goal on the calendar.”
And those close to Piastri have no doubt what he could do in the sport if he makes it there.
“He will be a Formula One world champion, guaranteed,” Sera said.
“He has just got it in him. He has just got the ability, he can overcome things, he has got the determination – and the talent, obviously. He has just got it.”
Originally published as Formula One: Oscar Piastri is an F1 star in waiting but don’t call him the next Daniel Ricciardo
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