‘Better than some drivers racing F1’: Alpine boss hails Piastri as future world champion

Melbourne youngster Oscar Piastri has what it takes to be a future Formula One world champion, says his team boss Laurent Rossi.

Rossi, who is chief executive of the Alpine F1 team, is an unabashed fan of the 21-year-old former Formula 2 and Formula 3 champion, who is Alpine’s reserve driver this season.

The Frenchman believes that Piastri is better than some drivers currently racing in F1, and he trusts his ability so much that he has created an intense testing and preparation program to ensure that he is ready to deliver from the moment he gets into a race car.

Melbourne’s Oscar Piastri is a reserve driver for Formula One outfit Alpine.Credit: Getty Images

“I value Oscar very much, otherwise I would not have chosen him as a reserve. There are plenty of late-season drivers out there knocking at the door hoping to get a seat. It would have been an easy choice for me to pick one of these guys, but Oscar we have seen him close in the Alpine academy,” Rossi said.

“He is a brilliant driver, breaking record after record. I would argue that there are drivers who are not as good as Oscar driving at the moment, so we decided to make sure that we would carry on with him, and he would be our reserve this season.

“He is very good and is probably one of the future champions of Formula One.”

“I would argue that there are drivers who are not as good as Oscar driving at the moment.”

Laurent Rossi on Australian Oscar Piastri

At present, Piastri, who grew up in Sandringham, has to cool his heels as the back-up for former world champion Fernando Alonso and French driver Esteban Ocon. The former is out of contract with Alpine at the end of this season, the latter is in the first year of a three-year deal.

Alonso has made it clear that he still wants to continue driving next season - whether it is with Alpine or another team.

Whatever happens, Rossi is confident that it will be sooner rather than later before Piastri lands a seat in the top category of motorsport.

“It’s not even a question of if, but when Oscar will step into F1. He will be as ready as possible. There is going to be an extensive testing programme [with] a lot of simulator work. He is going to learn a lot there and bring a lot to us,” he said.

“We are including him a bit more in depth than other [test] drivers in the briefing room and the data analysis.

“He is also looking at other cars, their driving lines, providing potential feedback on the way the cars behave, even the drivers, the way they take some turns.

“With Oscar there is better feedback, it is so good I can rely on that ... He is getting a lot of experience, information and expertise ... It’s much more intense than a rookie or reserve driver programme would [normally] get.”

Rossi says that it is Piastri’s ability to absorb information and digest it quickly which makes him stand out.

“He is smart enough to understand that a team is built around its drivers and the feedback they can give, the way they mesh into the team, across the two sides of the garage, the factories. It’s very impressive,” he said.

“There’s a difference between being curious and asking a couple of questions and being curious and asking a smart question, one after the other because you are building something. I could see that -with [Oscar] and I am like, ‘I want that, this is promising.’

“He’s fast ... to be very, very honest with you, I think he can be world champion.”